Update on the AP's Efforts to Obtain Redacted Names in Search Warrant Affidavit

Three weeks ago, I discussed the filing of a federal court petition by the Associated Press to make public the names of MLB players who were blacked out by federal prosecutors in an affidavit signed by a government agent in connection with a search warrant obtained on Jason Grimsley's home. The affidavit with the names redacted was made available to the public but not the unredacted version. The latest press release reveals that prosecutors did not provide the names of the blacked out players to MLB steroids investigator George Mitchell afterall. This week, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco responded to the applications filed in federal court by the AP and Hearst Corp., saying that both motions were a "thinly veiled attempt to benefit financially" by publicizing the names of people involved in the government's steroid probe and does not serve a public need.

The MLBPA also filed papers stating: "Disclosure of players' names would irreversibly link them with criminal conduct, even if that link were contrary to other known facts. The AP's publication of redacted names will result in the indictment and conviction of these individuals in the court of public opinion."

No doubt about it....

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