Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada co-authored the book Game of Shadows while they were reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle.
On May 31, the authors urged United States District Judge Martin Jenkins of San Francisco to excuse them from testifying.
This appeal was supported by affidavits from Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Mark Corallo, a former press secretary to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, but was denied on August 15, 2006.
[3] In August 2009, Williams left the Chronicle for California Watch, a new West Coast division of the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Following Judge White's decision to uphold the subpoena, public controversy stirred concerning whether or not the two reporters should be forced to reveal their sources.
In an affidavit, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer stated that, "To jail a journalist because he protected his source is an assault not only on the press, but on Californians as well.
The reporters [must] be able to provide public information, and without the use of confidential sources -- carefully conceived, properly used -- we will not learn about important matters that involve our government."
Lance Williams also expressed a similar concern, saying, "As far as the government coming after us, the world has changed since this story was published.
[8] On August 21, 2006, in an interview with Forrest Wilkinson of RealGM, Lance Williams was quoted as saying, "We always thought there was a disconnect between the government's interest in steroid use.