Federal prosecutor in BALCO probe quits

SAN FRANCISCO - The federal prosecutor who has led the high-profile
probe into athlete steroid abuse announced he was stepping down, and
critics alleged political pressure from the Bush administration was
pushing him and others out of their jobs.

Kevin Ryan, U.S. attorney for California's Northern District, has
headed the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the
Burlingame supplements lab at the center of the doping scandal that has
touched some of professional sports' biggest stars............Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters are facing jail for refusing to
tell prosecutors who leaked secret BALCO grand jury testimony to them................