And the next shoe dropped.

After yesterday’s big scoop revealing Jason Giambi’s Grand Jury testimony, the Chronicle, which has been all Woodward and Bernstein about the BALCO trial, got an even bigger scoop today- the testimony of one Barry Lamar Bonds, aka the guy who is breaking every record in baseball. In the testimony, Bonds said that he took the steroids “the cream” and “the clear” for a bit in 2003 but did not know they were steroids. After complaining about “fatigue” and “soreness,” his bestest pal in the world, trainer Greg Anderson gave him two drugs which he supposedly told Bonds was “flaxseed oil”and a rubbing balm for arthritis which it turned out were really steroids. Bonds’ later said that they didn’t do anything for him and so he stopped taking them. This contradicts evidence the prosecutors have allegedly showing the scheduling of Bonds’ drug intake as well as records of payments and drug test results. It also contradicts testimony of another one of Bonds’ bestest pals, Gary Sheffield, who not only saw Bonds take the drugs, but also said he took “the cream” and “the clear” in 2002 at the urging of Bonds. While Bonds has been granted immunity in the BALCO case, if found lying, he could still be charged for lying to a Grand Jury while under oath.

All these leaks of the supposedly super-secret Grand Jury testimony has gotten the Justice Department into such a snit that they have launched an investigation into finding out who could possibly be leaking the stories. After all, the whole point of having secret Grand Jury testimonies is that they are secret. While we might not have sympathy with Giambi in taking the steroids, we do have some sympathy for the fact he basically ‘fessed up at the urging of people who told him nothing will come to him in doing so only to find out that a lot could come to him. Giambi is getting roasted all up and down New York (we particularly love the headline “Boot the Bum”) with speculation arising about anything from suspensions to voided contracts to his 2001 MVP award being taken away from him.

As for the central figure in all this, Victor Conte, his big interview with 20/20 is tonight and not surprisingly, details of the interview are being leaked too (it’s called publicity). As speculated, Conte mainly throws Marion Jones under the bus, saying he not only gave her drugs but watched her take them. He also feigns ignorance about which baseball player is taking what, saying only that everyone in baseball is doing some sort of thing.