Brian McNamee Gives DNA Sample to Feds

If reading last night's news about Barry Bonds got you all nostalgic for Roger Clemens' legal nightmare, you're in luck: both the New York Times and New York Daily News have updates today on where things stand.

Remember how Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer turned federal informant, turned over syringes and gauze that he claimed were used to inject Clemens with steroids several years ago? It seems that the feds may have obtained a viable DNA sample off the items -- at least if you're willing to connect some dots.

While the government hasn't made any official announcement, a source confirmed that investigators requested and received DNA samples from McNamee and three of his lawyers, who took possession and photographed the items before handing them over to authorities in January. From the Daily News:

"It suggests that they found DNA on the items, they want to determine who came into contact with the material," said a source with close knowledge of the matter.

The agents visited McNamee on Long Island on Sept. 11 to take a swab of cells from the inside of his cheek. The agents also took samples from McNamee's three lawyers: Richard Emery, Earl Ward and Debbie Greenberger.

According to experts in criminal investigations cited by the Times, it's "highly unlikely that authorities would request DNA samples without having something with which they could be compared." Of course, this begs the question: has Clemens submitted a DNA sample of his own? That much is still unknown -- and his lawyer refused to say one way or the other -- but considering his previous vows to cooperate, it seems likely that he has.

Hypothetically speaking, if Clemens' DNA shows up on a syringe that also contains traces of steroids, it's an open and shut case, right? Not exactly. Even if that scenario, Clemens could still argue that the evidence was tampered with or engineered.

So what does today's news really mean? Well, nothing, really, aside from confirming that even though this investigation is moving slow, it's still moving. It took nine months for the feds to examine the items and decide they needed McNamee's DNA to move forward, and it took another two months for news of that development to leak. With that in mind, there's really no reason to think we'll find out Clemens' ultimate fate any time soon.