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Subscribe to RSSLance Armstrong faces serious new legal trouble: The Justice Department has joined one of his former racing teammates in suing him for using performance-enhancing drugs during the Tour de France. NBC Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reports.
Lance Armstrong faces a powerful new adversary -- the United States government.
The Justice Department notified a federal court Friday that it is joining one of his former racing teammates in suing him for using performance-enhancing drugs during the Tour de France.
The government signed on to a lawsuit filed two years ago by Floyd Landis, one of Armstrong's former Tour de France teammates who has already admitted cheating. Among its claims: Landis saw Armstrong store and then re-inject his own blood to boost his performance, and Armstrong twice gave Landis banned hormones before races.
The government’s legal theory in joining the lawsuit is that when Armstrong agreed to race for the U.S. Postal Service team a decade ago in the Tour de France, he defrauded the government, violating its strict ban on illegal drugs, all the while claiming he did not use them.
Though the government’s action presents a serious new legal threat to Armstrong, the Justice Department case is not foolproof: Legal experts say Armstrong could argue that his contract with the team owners never explicitly prohibited blood doping, and he could claim that he never signed any agreement directly with the Postal Service that banned the practice.
But if the government wins, Armstrong could face huge fines, because the Postal Service paid at least $30 million to sponsor his racing teams.
Armstrong's attorney, Robert Luskin, said in a statement Friday that the Postal Service had no losses deserving of compensation.
"Lance and his representatives worked constructively over these last weeks with federal lawyers to resolve this case fairly, but those talks failed because we disagree about whether the Postal Service was damaged," Luskin said. "The Postal's Services own studies show that the Service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship -- benefits totaling more than $100 million."
After denying for years that he cheated, Armstrong gave a general admission last month in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
"This issue of performance enhancers, to me, we're going to pump up our tires, put water in our bottles and, oh yeah, that, too, is going to happen. That was it," he said.
The cycling website Velo News reported this week that Travis Tygart, the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder last month, urging the government to join the Landis lawsuit.
A decision by the Justice Department to join the case “in order to get to the bottom (or top) of this massive fraud would also be viewed by the press and public as necessary and legitimate,” the letter said.
Joel Saget / AFP - Getty Images
The cyclist's historic run of Tour de France championships made headlines, as did his fall from grace after being stripped of the titles in 2012.
This story was originally published on Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:58 AM EST
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forget lance and go after gas speculators lance isn't coasting me a thing but gas sure is but that is how our gov work, time and money on things that don't matter and nothing on the stuff that does
Didn't co(a)st you anything??? $30 million US Postal Service sponsorship of his team cost all users of the USPS a lot of money. Maybe we should be suing him to recover some, if not all, of that sponsorship money.
My guess is that people using food stamps to buy ipads and Nikes is a much larger cost to the taxpayer than a paltry $30 million...
It's good to see karma hit a narcissist.
Since when can you use food stamps to buy anything other than food? You can't even buy diapers with food stamps.
As for this lawsuit - The bigger question is why is an almost bankrupt government agency putting up $30 million for a sponsorship? What kind of return on investment was USPS exepecting? And did they get it?
And those people and the businesses illegally taking SNAP cards for payment of such merchandise should be prosecuted as well, but with the new electronic "credit card" SNAP program vs. the old paper food stamps, it is much more difficult for a person to make such illegal purchases.
OMG. Why do Justice and Congress only care about baseball players and Lance Armstrong? I won't even go into why they ignore the NFL's obviously rampant steroid problem, but who cares anyway? How about prosecuting ANYONE on Wall Street for the criminal mortgage securitization scheme that almost brought down the world economy?
@ anti-trust proponent: I suspect that the US Postal Service made considerably more from the sponsorship during the years that Lance Armstrong was riding for them. What more would they want?
Before it's all over, he'll be riding a used Schwinn. The lawyers will pick him clean.
Yes snapperman you can actually buy a BMW with food stamps, I was told by someone on line, and they don't charge tax, also you get 5 years of free gasoline when you purchase with food stamps.
One thing I don't understand though is there are no food stamps anymore but a SNAP debit card. But old snapper I'm sure it works the same where you just present it and there is an unlimited amount of cash available.
Actually I read, on line of course, that Bush II gave up his retirement for a SNAP debit card, saying "Hell if I live off the taxpayer I may as well have the convenience of a debit card."
Did you not read any farther down where it says "The Postal's Services own studies show that the Service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship -- benefits totaling more than $100 million."
Fine If the Gvmnt sues for the sponsorship money, then Armstrong should sue for the 70 million the enforcement made for the USPS....
Please 30 million dollars? That's what the post office is concerned about? MSNBC just had an article posted on this site that stated the USPS loses $25 million dollars PER DAY! What a joke to waste more money to go back and try and recoup that, which he most likely doesn't even have the assets for in the first place because he funneled so much of his cash into his Livestrong foundation.
And using food stamps to buy Nikes and iPads? Thats just absurd and shows your lack of understanding of what the social system actually helps with. And even if people were allowed to buy them with their assistance, its not like people on welfare have an unlimited access to funds. They have a cap, and once its gone, its gone. Who are you to tell anyone what they should be doing? The only reason you give a damn is because you equate money with power and seem to think that by the funneling of your tax dollars down to an individual who is receiving assistance you have some authority to decide what they should be purchasing and how they should spend their money and live their life.
This is all good and well..but..where are the prosecutions against the Bankers, Hedge Fund Managers, and Accountants on Wall Street....that lead to the Second Great Depression?
Just like Roger Clemens (who had more FBI agents assigned to him than Wall Street Felons...the law only seems to apply to athletes...which means nothing...but not to people that affect the livelihood of billions around the world.
Heck of a job, U.S. Government.
How much do they expect to get back...and for what? He lied...just like most politicians and bureaucrats.
It seems like the feds should have tested him more intently since he was a de facto employee of the Federal Government (through sponsorship from the USPS). According to published reports, Armstrong had already tested positive for certain banned substances. Isn't it the Federal Government's policy to TEST FEDERAL EMPLOYEES FOR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES?
Besides, the USPS reaped an enormous amount of publicity while Armstrong was wearing the USPS logo on his jersey. So, they want to have reaped the benefit of such publicity and then sue him for sponsorship too? Maybe they can do an "even trade" and return whatever benefit that they received from his sponsorship?
This sounds like an awful waste of money. But when has the Federal Government NOT wasted our money?
Never
You don't think that either party is going to go after their bread and butter do you.
16 Trillion in debt, unemployment still high, home prices remain low, bridges and infrastructure crumbling, and what do our fearless leaders consider a top priority? A bicycle rider. And to make matters worse, a bicycle rider most known for his victories in France.
Why didn't he just keep his dirty little secret to himself?
....and ten years in jail. The only way you could do that would be to sell them illegally for cash. No BMW dealer is going to take a chance of losing his dealership and jail time by exchanging food stamps for BMW's. Get real!
Why not? Simply because to truly get to the heart of the mortgage secuitization disaster one would ultimately find the Community Reinvestment Act, a crime perpetrated by Congress itself.
@ LadyM:
The way that people "buy" things via food stamps is simple. They purchase food and "trade" or "sell" it for money or other items. If you go to any inner city grocery store often enough, you will be approached by someone wanted to give you a special "deal."
I live in a nice area (Palo Alto, CA), but I have been approached at the local Wal-Mart and Safeway stores in nearby Mountain View.
I hope that this clears it up for you. It isn't just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing either. You can find people wanting to "trade" on Craigslist or just standing outside of a grocery store.
Sure seems like Armstrong slept with Tygart's wife. Just saying. There isn't really any other reason I can think why he would be so out to get him other than maybe just raging jealousy.
He probably has a really small penis.
The only problem I have with this focus on Lance Armstrong is that he's getting all the blame, when it's pretty well known that perhaps 90% of the top cyclists also used 'performance enhancing drugs'.
When they stripped Armstrong of his Tour victories, all they did was transfer them to someone else that probably also took similar drugs - they just didn't get caught.
Anti-trust, USPS got more than their money worth. Just like Nike did. Should everybody that had a package delivered by USPS now return it and have FedEx deliver it?
I'm like a lot of people, this is getting to the point, I'm tired of it; due to the Doping Agency has a grudge with Lance, He admitted it last month, banned from the sport he loved, lost all titles and has lost his sponsors
But the Doping agency continues to go after the guy, here we are a country that near to bankrupt, and the doping agency wants to spend more tax dollars on another law suit.
Than again for years the Postal Service has gone to the point of sponsoring the Olympic and Bike racing but they want to state they are basicly broke during that time why Sponsor if you don't have the official funds to do so.
Welcome to the PC World of the Clintons. He's white, so he's fair game.
Poor Lance, he said he just went with the flow, oops then he was the leader of the flow. I do believe that what he did was no different than anyone else in the tour. He just had a more competitive streak and made sure he had the best in everything including team mates. I agree that the Post Office made much more off that sponsorship than they paid out. Sounds like they just want to make sure their image stays clean. He confessed so I say just leave him be.
Can someone explain why Reichwingers don't agree with me?
Again, why are athletes being prosecuted...for "who cares" issues...while Bankers, Hedge Fund Managers, Accountants...et. al., who WILLFULLY DESTROYED the world economy...making billions in "bonuses"?
Seriously, I know where the Left stands...but...where are the patriotic Righties?
This is dumb. How can one doper be singled out like this? He is already ruined. What about all the other 1000s of dopers in all sports? Are they going to be sued too? Tired of it.
Ohhhh, poor babies at the DOJ. Their boss is a criminal and gun runner and they want to join a civil law suit because the POSTAL service' reputation was damaged?!? Let's see a little prosecution for Eric "Gun Walker" holder" first. How about a little of that transparency and accountability we keep hearing about but not seeing.
Give me a break, the postal service has been a money pit since the late 60's, the unions have made and received ridiculous demands and compensation, all at tax payer expense. Armstrong was the only positive cash flow the postal service has had in 4 decades. But, I fail to see how this damaged the postal service. how many times in the last 8 years have we heard about criminal activity, mail being stored and not delivered, thrown away, or willfully destroyed by these lazy welfare queens at teh post office? Damaged their reputation and image, PUH-LEEEEEZE. they did that years ago without Armstrong's help.
never stop asking question, dude, what the hell are you talking about you dimwit? What does this have to do with bankers and such? You know there are lots of bank owners, and ceos that are... LEFTIES, you fuc$tard. Get a life or go jump off a cliff.
You "You can't use food stamps for iphones" people are not getting the picture.
Even if they cannot use the stamps for iphones directly.....they can certainly use that money they save to get one. Which is where a lot of people get upset.....People on Food stamps buying things they cannot afford because food stamps provide them with more disposable income.
Now...I don't think it's as bad as some people make it.....but if even one of ten people abuses the program it is too much. We've all seen the "usual suspects" videos with creature comforts that you just aren't supposed to be able to afford while being broke.
Fraud is rampant if you ask the grunts on the ground. They will tell you over and over again that people are either not being prosecuted or the punishment is so minor that is does nothing to discourage.
But put into prospective...it really is no worse than all your American loving Americans trying to squeeze every single last tax credit you can in hope you don't get audited!
ima sue the USPS for promoting an cheater while delivering my mail....hows that for justice ;)
anyways, here we go again, knee jerk reaction by our government affecting taxpayers ability to afford food, clothing and shelter because we get the chore of picking up the tab, or should i say 3 generations from now who wont even know who lance is. Bet they will love paying for a witch hunt, lets ask the unborn how they feel about paying for congress/gov. to play games.
If specific congressmen want to go after him, they need to do it with their own money, not ours. Stop pushing around the citizens of this nation so that they can feel justified when they choose not to do their job but instead find pet projects that mean nothing to society as a whole. Fraud, manipulation, and lies, spoon feed to the us citizens by greedy self indulgent congress people and their lobbyists.
I would like a congress person to post letters from the citizens demanding justice for USPS because they profited off a cheater. Show the nation who is asking for you all to put our resources on this petty bike rider.
Sadly this is one of the poorest decisions the US Gov't can make and get involved in. It is a waste of much needed money for the US to get involved in the suit! Are they doing so Posture!Aren't there many many more important issues for the US gov't to focus on then just a lawsuit whereby the only winners will be the attorneys receipt of enormous fees!
THE US GOVERNMENT NEED NOT BE INVOLVED IN THIS SUIT AND SHOULD BACK OUT NOW, OF NOT THEN THEY ARE WASTING OUR MONEY ON FRIVILOUSNESS.
The people need the money much more than this suit does!
They didn't go after Armstrong. Their mission was resource allocation & distribution.
1.34, no but we sure do understand how pathetic it is to post in bold letters some dumb, half supported opinion.
your post is of no value what so ever. stop being a freak...funny how you think posts on one thread represent the will of the entire right leaning citizens of this nation. talk about uneducated one-sided brain washed troll
Never, I would hope this isn't a political thing, but since you brought it up. We have a Democratic President that picked an AG that has directed his department to join in this suit. Based on this we have a Democratic administration chasing this dog with yours and my tax dollars, while not investigating the culpability of the government, banks and wall street houses in our financial crisis. To me, this is one of the most insane uses of government resources that I can think of, so thank you President Obama for taking you eyes off the target. As former President Clinton said, it's the economy stupid.
Now this is the Federal Government and the DOJ we are talking about. Postal Service admitted making 70 Million Dollars on sponsoring Lance. The Congress and Senate, said wait a minute, you mean we screwed up and made a profit from a sponsor? That can't be. Let's spend 100 million of finding out what went wrong. Then we can say we spent 30 million dollars sponsoring something, and spent 130 milion doing it. Now that is more like it. PUTZ!
I thought the lawsuit was about defrauding the government. What does it matter if his cheating turned out to be profitable, it was defrauding the government. You cheat you pay. Not cash out and high five each other over the backs of those who played fair.
My two cents anyway. Not that the government isn't corrupt itself.
Finding out why 4 Americans had to fight for their lives of 7 hours and no one lifted a finger to help them in a waste of money? Your right going after one man out of thousands that were doing the same thing at the same time is a much better use of our tax dollars.
Pile on Mr. Armstrong while POTUS remains another 3.5 years plundering the USA. Nice call folks! When the US Department of Justice fails to focus on the wholesale blasphemy of government & God, the economy of Makeoffs, the corruptions of sex, drugs & rock n roll, the molestations of fuel prices & the ransom of the industries, the foreign markets will destroy any sparse remains of the USA = Home of the Slave.
Lady M, you are wrong! I have personally seen a foodstamp debit card used to purchase alcohol! Unfortunatley many merchants would rather have sales than obey the law!
Well it seems like a waste of tax payer money to file suit against him. Why not focus that money somewhere else?
USPS invested 30 million and had a return of approx 100 million and they want to sue lance ?? We have some serious idiots in the government OOOPPPPPPSSSS we already knew thaT THOUGH get rid of obama reid pelosi and anyone else in that category and AMERICA WILL DO BETTER
With all the real crime going on, rapes, murders, wall street and banking fraud, gun trafficking, assault and battery, ending rights of abortion for women, voter suppression, the enforcement of laws according to race, this is what the Justice Department is going after? Shame on your Holder. Like very much what you've been doing but your head is up your a@# with this decision. Get your priorities straight.
Lance Armstrong: Diagnosis: Rule Out Sociopathy -- potentially dangerous.
I told you all it was coming!! The greatest fraud in the history of sports!
The greatest cheat in the history of sports!
The greatest liar in the history of sports!!
What did you expect?!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's a punk, a liar, a cheat, a scumbag, a fraud, and UN-AMERICAN!!
THIS IS HOW WE DO IT!! We prosecute liars, scumbags, cheats and frauds!!
Lay him low PLEASE!!! We need a true scum-bag to identify with our ideals! Thank you Lance, you've proved that all Americans today are basically scumbags until proven different!
as far as food stamps go They are being sold to dealers for cash and drugs as well as some unscrupulous grocers for alcohol and tobacco
I'm sure Lance has somebody in line for himself too! Food Stamps? What the???.....
The one thing you can absolutely count on is that no one on any of these sites can stick to the subject. The USPS paid for advertising. They got advertising. Period. End of Story. Armstrong doesn't owe the USPS a dam thing unless they can prove actual damage and the same goes for the rest of the vultures.
Right on, Annabanana !
Mr. Armstrong did what all the others do, use performance enhancing drugs. Only he won 7 TIMES. That was his over-the-top mistake. Should have done it three times at the most.
I hope he has had enough of this and takes the money he has left and dissappears to some hidden tropical island and lives out the rest of his life in peace.
Eric Holder, front and center! I see thru your smoke screen. This is merely another feeble attempt to distract from the trashy stuff going on with the administration. If you can get enough worthless stories out there and release little bits to the media you just might distract enough attention from the real dirt.
Leave that creep alone (Armstrong) and do some productive work. The Post Office would have spent that money somewhere else anyway, it was in their budget. Sheesch!!! Bernie and BW at #2 & 2.1 and lots of other folks see it too.
All Armstrong has to do is tell everyone he's a Democrat and loves Obama.
The news will drop the story, he'll start getting favorable press despite any lies he tells (like Obama) and the gub'mint will drop the charges like Eric Holder did with the Black Panthers for their voter intimidation.
Who cares, our country is screwed. We have blind bats that voted for a crook in for a second term. Obooma IS absolutely destroying our nation and the libtards are to thank for letting him. Good job people!
How, exactly would they have done that? The postal service is not a free market corporation. They are (a poorly managed), independently controlled, government agency. How, exactly, do they make money by sponsoring an athlete such as Armstrong? And, on a bigger question, why are they not pursuing every
other member of the USPS team since, according to Landis, they were all using illegal PEDs during competition.
Every time I read something new about this case it looks more and more like a witch hunt. Frankly, I'm tired of it. Tired of Armstrong, tired of Landis, tired of the US postal service, tired of postage rates that have jumped 10 cents in the last ten years and 35 cents since the postal service took over the
governance of their agency. I'm tired of paying more for postage while the service one buys with that postage grows increasingly less dependable and takes longer to deliver on that service. For me, no matter how bad they try to make Armstrong look, his sponsor will always look worse. Of course, there are some
truly dedicated postal employees who love their jobs and the public they work for. But I have seen too much of carriers who leave "tried to deliver" cards instead of taking the time to get the certified mail card
signed. In a hurry to get their routes over with, they just fill out a bunch of cards in their trucks and drop them in the box rather than actually making the effort to deliver the mail. And I've seen neighbors chasing a carrier down the street to claim those undelivered parcels and pieces of mail. And then they want more pay and smaller routes. And these people are complaining about $30m spent to sponsor a team in a 'bike race'???? How, exactly, did the USPS expect to recoup their 'investment'? And what, other than the $30m, did they actually lose? And, while we're analyzing their motives, why would this nearly bankrupt, struggling to hold on agency hold Armstrong liable for the entire amount invested in sponsoring the entire USPS team? Oh, yeh. Because witch hunts are like that.
How convenient that now all of a sudden the USPS is part of the government.
Can any one ...please... explain to me how Lance Armstrong actually brought $100 million into the Post Office as some here claim?
1. There was never a US Lance Armstrong stamp
2. We all those hours of watching the Tour de France time when people paid bills and used stamps, or
3. Heaven forbid, people wrote LETTERS in from of the TV that needed stamps.
I just need to know what these "business geniuses" in the USPS were thinking.
A simple pasted URL would do....
says right in the article that the USPS gained 100m of biz due to the sponsorship vs 30 fees.... but I don't believe it... my bet is the advent of Priority Mail which happened during the same period had a lot more to do with USPS taking 2 day business from UPS and Fedex and gaining that 100M than Lance did....
when you are a pro athlete, you currently have a responsibility not to use PEDs.... he blew that... and people believed that lie... and he should pay for that
Tom, you're wrong if you don't think drug use is costing our society.
Lance Armstrong has made $ millions in endorsements, all based on an image that was full of lies.
Every time you bought a Nike product, the price was jacked up to cover Armstrong's cut.
Do you remember his arrogant Nike ad: "Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?"
Add that he's a poor role model for America's youth and that he essentially forced his teammates to dope, and I'm not feeling an ounce of sympathy for him.
Doesn't Justice have better things to do? Wait. Maybe it's a good thing they're going after Armstrong? Less of a chance of our law enforcement officers being killed by drug cartels near the border.
I am going to chime in with all those that question pursuing LA vs pursuing the frickin crooks, liars, cheats and thieves on Wall Street. They steel more in 30 seconds than LA could do in a lifetime.
Besides, we all know how that "war on drugs" thingy is working out.....
That one caught me by surprise, too! Seems we have been all been told time and time again that the USPS is not owned nor operated by the US government. So DO they or DON'T they???
I'm glad we know where Obama and his justice department has their priorities set. This is soooo concerning to my life.....
Hummmmmm .. So now, the government will spend millions of dollars going after Lance Armstrong? WHY? ..... IT'S OVER! ... at least it should be ... he deceived a lot of us ... So? Thats what the politicians in Washington do all the time (both parties) and we just have to "suck it up" ...
WASHINGTON ... Just suck it up and move on ...PLEASE .. don't waste anymore expense on this issue .... it's history ..
lets see, a bike champion who fought back from cancer, and chemo, took hormones, and steroids to build back his body so he could continue racing; it was banned, he was wrong; but now the United States Justice department wants to make a example out of him; what about fast and furious, 2 trillion unaccounted for that went to the federal reserve, Geitner not paying taxes on a million a year income, Rangel not declaring income on Pureto Rico property he rented, talk about getting priority's mixed up !
I have to wonder how this is the US governments @!$%#ing business? WE do not pay them to determine public morality. WE pay them to do their jobs.
Why exactly is the DOJ not arresting every Congressman on the hill?
I hope Mr Galt shows up at my door soon.
It's over and done with. The guy has already paid his dues. Gave up his olympic and Tour De France Metals. That is enough. There is enough waste of federal spending. . .
According to the lawsuit, Armstrong defrauded the government of $30 million dollars. Oh, OK, he was stripped of his titles that he cheated to win, that's punishment enough? He was stripped of his endorsements that he cheated to obtain, that's punishment enough? Hardly.
He stole, he cheated, he lied. He doesn't deserve a break - he lost his titles and endorsement, which he never deserved in the first place. The government should get that money back, which he never would have gotten if he hadn't lied and cheated.
Why don't they just leave him alone. They've already stripped him of his championships and medals, and he may have to return millions in payments from sponsors.
Besides, all participants were similarly doped...
brian-1924638 "You can't use food stamps for iphones"
You don't appreciate the creativity of people. Several stores in our area were recently closed down for charging EBT (food stamp) cards for the full amount and giving the welfare recipient cash for half the amount. Typically, they used the cash for drugs, but purchasing an iphone would also be easy.
Interestingly, about 30% of EBT cards in California were used at gambling casinos, according to a recent study.
Armstrong should not be punished. He is merely an iconic embodiment of the universal American "win at all costs" mentality. He is truly one of us, an ideal representative of American values.
@Roy:
Funny, I live in a neighborhood where just about everyone is on food stamps. Most are physically or mentally disabled, sometimes both, and I don't see anyone toting around an iPhone. In fact, they are all barely able to keep a roof over their heads, including those who worked for twenty years before becoming disabled. You must live in another world there, the imaginary one created by the Republican Party and promoted by Faux News.
liberals are ignorant to our social system abuse. Ever hear of a Link Card? You can use them in any ATM. Its Illinois way of "welfare and forget". Up until last year they 'banned' them in Casinos! yes people were taking their welfare and gambling.
the post office is billions in debt. just how would financial support for armstrong in anyway benefit US taxpayers who eventually foot the bill for all of post office expenditures. armstrong is a professional athlete. even if the contract with armstong did not contain a clause regarding ''doping'' it is implicit in any contract that any unlawful act would violate the spirit of the contract and render it null and void. the post office is currently selling a fashion line and promoting with tv ads. this is just plain nuts.
"WHEN WILL STUDENTS LEARN THAT AN EXTREME OPINION IS NOT A CONVINCING ONE?!!!"
I recall my old high school teacher shouting this to our class one day a I did come to realize that moderate viewpoints usually do have more power of persuasion.
Nevertheless, I'm totally outraged over this story. I'm a proud American who wants to respect his government but I've got a serious problem when government involves itself with sports. When any politician or government entity concerns itself in any way with sports, I feel betrayed by my government.
The government case not only has no merit, it shows a serious lack of focus. Our government has bigger fish to fry and we need to focus on frying those fish instead of worrying about issues with baseball and cycling etc.
When the cult of celebrity sent Armstrong a formal invite....he should have *just said "no"*
DonBo - I agree.
However, I am getting VERY TIRED of constantly seeing this miscreant's photo in the news. The news media should stop with the photos of Mr. Armstrong. He is evil and should be shunned. He should be a footnote on page 33, not an article on the main page... (My 2 cents worth!)
I'm one of those that am really pissed off that we bother with crap like this when we let criminals in the finance industry bring the entire world economy down by swindling most of us.
Back when Obama was running for a second term, I wrote to him that I would only give money to his reelection campaign if he went after the crooks in the finance industry. I haven't sent him a cent. I did vote for him because the other guy scared the sh!t out of me.
We simply cannot have an unelected shadow government run our country ........ like it is now.
Hello folks, Lance Armstrong rode a bike and was blood doping just like the next 15 top cyclists in the world. Who fricking cares the mega uber rich corporations can’t siphon more money using what was his good marketing name any longer? The Fast and Furious Department of Justice Eric Holder is going after a bicyclist and that is the top priority of the DOJ. You have to be fricking kidding me.
When will you low information sheeple wake up and hold the DOJ accountable for the important issues that affect the majority of people in our country and planet. They pull you around by your nose rings and tell you what is important and what isn’t. WTFU.
How about Fast and Furious has anybody been held accountable for weapons propagation to the drug cartels or the killing of US border guards and thousands of innocent Mexican men, women and children? No! Nobody has gone to jail or resigned over this breech of law.
How about the trillions of dollars stolen from investors like the 1.4 Quadrillion in derivatives fraud, the HSBC drug laundering and terrorist fraud, the MF Global fraud, the PFG fraud, the high frequency trading pilfering and stock market fraud, the manipulation of the precious metals and bond market fraud, the MERS mortgage fraud, nearly countless individual frauds from both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and the international 800 trillion LIBOR interest rate fixing banking fraud, just to name but a few recent FRAUDS and breaches of Bankster credibility and trustworthiness and who’s gone to jail? In blind obedience to the plutocrats we bail them out over and over and over again. I repeat sheeple not one person has gone to jail. When asked why they won’t prosecute the DOJ has stated “it would jeopardize the financial industry” and the sheeple go OK, that makes sense. In other words too big to fail too big to jail. A different set of laws for us and a different set for the elite.
How about the countless Executive Orders and Laws passed stripping us of our civil liberties? We have lost most of our civil liberties through the passage of the Patriot Act, the Foreign Investigation Surveillance Act (FISA), the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the new National Defense Resources Preparedness (NDRP)! They have authorized the use of spy drones in American skies! You can be surveilled by any number of Federal agencies, have your phone and computer tapped, bank, medical, and private records accessed! You can be arrested without gaining access to an attorney or a trial. We are molested at the airports or radiated for “security”. And just recently added National Defense Resources Preparedness Act (NDRP) which comes on the heels of NDAA. This Executive Order allows the government to take pretty much whatever it wants including crops, farm equipment, vehicles, boats, aircraft and fuel to “prepare” for the national defense. This includes making people work for free. You think I’m kidding about the free labor? Here’s a line straight from the EO that says, “. . . to employ persons of outstanding experience and ability without compensation. . .” This is authorized even in peace time! They have eliminated our 4th Amendment (NDAA) and are going after our 2nd Amendment through the back door. What’s next, the 1st Amendment (SOPA, PIPA, CISPA, ACTA, etc.)?
How about Benghazi, has anyone even been charged, fired or reprimanded for the ineptness and death of an ambassador? No!
It’s amazing to me that the DOJ through their infamous “Memo” dictates that the president can generate kill lists and assassinate American citizens without any oversight, zero, nada and the sheeple are silent. Yeah, a bicyclist doping or which rapper the Kardashians are dating or snooki's pregnancy are more note worthy. It is absolutely pathetic how far America has fallen and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
@J.P Dogly
My friend I believe that you are the one that is living in how did you put it "the imaginary one created by the Republican Party and promoted by Faux News." I live in Tacoma, WA an area where 60% or more of the population is on welfare and receives food stamps (SNAP Debit Cards). They are able to sale their food stamps to other people at .50 on the dollar to people who are willing to defraud the gov. (because that's what it is) I can get $200 worth of food stamps for $100 mean I give the person with the SNAP card $100 cash and they give me their card or go to the store with me and pay for everything!!!!! I'm glad you live in a neighborhood where people actually use gov. assistance the way it was meant to be used but that doesn't mean all Americans do so as well!!!!!
Amazing how the current Government goes after people "Not" of color. If he was an "undocumented" emigrant there would be no story here.
Four more years of this BS. Damn sad.
Yep, the DOJ is a "formidable foe" alright.
They go after individuals, private businesses, and States......but take care of Mr. Obama and his cronies and folks like the Black Panthers in Federal and State courts.
BTW: still waiting on the DOJ's explanation of "Fast and Furious" and why the DOJ is not taking to Federal Court the 41 Obama White House staffers, and some of their aides, for NOT PAYING THEY BACK IRS TAXES since the IRS still sits on it's hands.
Lance, if you had only kept your big mouth shut you would not be digging your own grave. But no, your ego was so huge, you thought that by coming clean and being Mr. Honest that it would be a walk in the park. Here is a real shock to your ego, you are never going be allowed into cycling ever again. The Feds just put the last nail in your coffin. This is what your arrogance and cheating has brought you. "Cheaters never prosper" goes the old saying. And they are not kidding either!
Bill from Oregon was right, had you been a minority and not a white boy the Justice Department would have stayed out of it. And yes, I feel your pain on the "Four more years of this BS. Damn sad."
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, another waste of tax payer money so that some gov. prosecutor and some senator/congress person can get some camera face time while wasting our time and money. These folks make me ill. “in order to get to the bottom (or top) of this massive fraud". This is meaningless fraud. See Toms' above post if you want to really do something useful.
Well said. Prosecutors don't mind wasting our tax dollars. This is trivia compared to what they could be doing with the money. Too bad they don't have direct accountability to the American taxpayers. They should be fired for squandering our hard earned money! Apparently, the Justice Department is one of those agencies that could use some funding cuts.
Yep, another move for political gain- at taxpayer expense.
Whay isn't the same department concerned with the illegals who've infiltrated our country to the tune of millions? Same reason- it's politically motivated. Nevermind- the good little sheeple will just continue to pay up.
lol no kidding Theres a LOT worse people doing a LOT worse crimes to worry about!
Lance Armstrong should have never admitted it. It's only another dumb sport. He should have just walked away, never saying any more about it.
They want to spend money and investigate something? Try investigaing Holden and the DOJ for Operation Fast and Furious.
Not a SINGLE WALL STREET INSIDER PROSECUTED? But, they have time to go after a guy who rides bicycles?
It's no waste of time TO PROSECUTE LIARS, CHEATS AND FRAUDS!
It would be a waste of time not to do it! Lance Armstrong is the worst sports competitor in the history of SPORTS!!!
His sleeze has pervaded all sports and LANCE took it to a new level! The King of Sleeze!
Now you know Lance's new name: The KING OF SLEEZE. Welcome to America! Be proud...
Why isn't the medical community all over Lance with research into the drugs he took? Here is a guy that recovered from cancer to WIN the Tour de France SEVEN TIMES.... I couldn't care less about the rules.... If what Lance took, created the superman from a patient, then this stuff needs to be sold a Wal-Mart......
You may be on to something there. Pharmaceuticals pushing for a lawsuit?? There is definitely an ulterior motive here.
dave simpson-then why the hell doesn't our government get serious about the illegals who commit fraud and lie and steal jobs? oh yeah cause they pick and choose the use of my tax dollars as THEY see fit...smh
Wow, the gov't sure sounds FAST AND FURIOUS over Lance Armstrong's criminal behavior.
Such a danger to others and the nation.
We can all rest easier now.
This guy will be tormented the rest of his life. I sure hope it was worth it.
Poor Lance. It's about time all of these athletes get prosecuted for the illegal drug use that goes on in both professional and amateur sports.
Not that it really matters? Clean or dirty, people will still pay to see them play and sponsors will still give them money because sponsors know the reward will far outweigh the risk.
Actually, sponsors are canceling contracts when a pro athlete is charged with major crimes such as illegal use of drugs. Lance isn't the only one who has lost a lot of his "endorsement" contracts when caught up in legal battles. I for one wouldn't cross the street, let alone pay to see the athlete perform, if there was any known hint of drug usage or any other illegal activity. And Lance is a real s$$h*le in public at races he participates in. I know, since I witnessed his attitudes last May in a triathlon in St. Croix USVI.
who cares? do we really want to pay for going after lance (or athletes) when we have done nothing to go after banks or politicians? how about they drop it and refund whatever the cost may have been back to the taxpayers???
Lance earned his spot in history! He's the sleeziest of the sleezy!
He deserves to go down as the biggest cheat in history!
And how many high powered execs do you think guzzle down their alcohol every day and night?
My money going to waste. Wonderful. The government is even getting involved in the lawsuit game. Ugh. We are paying countries hundreds of millions of dollars and they are lying to the government (us). What does the government do? Continue to pay. I would appreciate it if the government would focus on other things...such as governing the country.
Actually, any time the DOJ gets involved in a court case, it is a "lawsuit", especially in this type of case. How is upholding our laws not part of governing the country?
Thats how I feel on immigration.They should enforce those laws as well. As far as Armstrong goes, he ruined a lot of people with law suits. He deserves what he is getting.
I was thinking of that deal with the Pakistanis who said they had no idea bin laden was right there in town........
Of course, there's also the deals with Chavez before he gave them the finger....
And do we want to drag Israel into this? Or BP? Goldman Sachs?
The Government smells money, and given the current state of the budget, are going after it like sharks smelling blood... blood.. that's funny...
bottom line what goes around comes around. He was a total dou&^%bag toward people who incinuated that he was on the sauce and he actually thought he was "the don" by not just squashing what they were saying but also ruining their personal lives. Feelings aside from this being the best use of Govt funds- although he did not hesitate to take the USPS money and should be held accountable - my faith in the Govt prosecuting anyone for PED's is low as it seems like they are the gang who could not shoot straight.
Either way this is called Karma.
Don't the feds have anything better to do?
Apparently the China hacker thing isn't that important. Perhaps if the hackers were using PEDs...
Maybe the "Justice" Department could prosecute the fraud that threw this country into a depression. Then there are the people who laundered billions for the Mexican drug cartels and helped flood our streets with Heroin.
But they are banksters and are above the law so I guess they have nothing better to do then chase Armstrong
dmiller...what does one thing have to do with the other? Are you privy to the counter-intellegence efforts to thwart Chinese ciber-snooping? If not why bring it up?
Hey, just more government intervention in an area that is more media driven than the real job at hand. How about working more on the economy, enviourmental problems, identify vast waste in government spending, and on and on. Aren't they suppossed to macromanage more instead of micromanage? Oh, and in a country that is producing so much oil and much more on the horizon, how about working on driving the price of gas down at the pumps and help the average folks out there instead of let spectulators control the price we are paying at the pump. To much greed in this country.
IF YOU ALL REALLY UNDERSTOOD THE GREATEST CHEAT IN SPORTS HISTORY: LANCE ARMSTRONG!
You wouldn't question anything about what is going on now. You're all missing the point about Lance Arnmstrong!
He's the biggest cheat in all of SPORTING HISTORY!! He would have never won the Tour De France, he was a fake, a fraud, a liar, a cheat and the worst American competitor in THE WORLD!!
Now think again.... Yes, it's true...
Lance is the biggest cheat in all of sports history. Good to know he's an American, YOU PIG!!!!
Sounds like most pro atheletes...
I hope loses everything.
Same rules should apply to pro football and baseball players. If you dope, you have to return all your money. That would put an end to doping.
So, the government wasted tax dollars by sponsoring - and now they will do it again to prosecute.
The USPS is not funded by tax dollars, so it is not wasting tax dollars.
Not sure you can have it both ways.... if the government didn't use tax dollars for this via USPS, how could he have defrauded them? And if it was tax dollars and they are going to claim fraud, how do they justify if they spent $30 million and got $100 million in benefit? The rest of the government should take notes. Spend $16 trillion, get $48 trillion back.... damn, we'd be out of debt and sitting pretty. All "fraud" should be as profitable.
What a F'd up country we live in! The USPS has little control over what it can do without the consent of Congress, but it can sponsor a bicycle team for $30M! Am I the only one who's incredulous at this???
USPS is run by the Government. They sponsered Lance Armstrong. So they are saying that he defrauded the government. on a side note. Those that think that health care should be run by the government, would you be happy if the hospital was only open 5 days a week and only from 8-4
How about going after the Wall Street banksters who committed fraud in the Trillions of dollars against the 99% of folks who lost their retirement accounts, and all of whom continue to steal our retirement dollars. USDOJ, wake up and use common sense. Go after the big money gangsters, not the little guys!
This is just one of many unimportant distractions that serve to polarize our society while the elite quietly continue to erode our civil liberties, destroy the middle class and enslave our progeny to the multi-national corporations.
No sense going after someone who can't lose. The mega-wealthy are protected by the government....the fairly-wealthy are fair game.
The WSB's are the masters of our government and the politico's working there. Our politicians and government are afraid to bite the hands that feed them. Watch "Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream". It will explain all.
And no wonder the U S Postal Service is crying "poor mouth" and shutting down Saturday service.
Love Jim's idea..."if you dope, you have to return all your money". All pro sports should adhere to this.
My question is this, "why was the postal service even involved in cycling? That thirty million dollars could have been better spent at the actual postal service. Did they make any additional money from this? If not perhaps the guy that came up with this brilliant idea should be sued too. Stop spending our money on this stuff. I am sure that there are more important people to sue than Armstrong. We have more important things to do with our resources than to go after a drugged up athlete. What he did was illegal, yes, so give him comunity service for the rest of his life and move on.
pibs...the article states that according to Lance the postal service made over 100 million for their endorsement....if you can believe Lance.
No, the article claims that, according to the postal service's own studies they made over 100 million from their endorsement -
"The Postal's Services own studies show that the Service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship -- benefits totaling more than $100 million."
The US could easliy spend $1-2m on this case, and for what?? By them adjoining the case like this, the other private person will now get to use legal services paid for by tax-payers.
WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY! I hope this decision is re-thought.
Lance is now the Arod of racing but as the article points out, he didn't really dope he re-injected his own saved blood. Something Olympic athletes did for years.
He did dope though. He used steroids and HGH as well.
rad, you're probably right and know more about this than I do. I was just going by the article that claimed Armstrong gave illegal substances to his co-riders but only mentioned blood doping for Lance.
You are kidding me ??
The federal deficit is trillions of dollars, gas has gone from $1.78 under the evil GW Bush to over $4.00 per gallon under the Muslim Messiah, Iran is building Nuclear Weapons, Russia is putting a naval base in Cuba. there is resistant TB in California (not necessarily a bad thing), Unemployment is 15% and the Government wants to go after Lance Armstrong!! I guess that is what happens when you put an anti-american Terrorist in the White House
That can't surprise you - after all, Armstrong is a wealthy white male. This is the new enemy of the government, and they must all be destroyed.
You seem to forget the gas was almost $4.50 before the 2008 economy recession when the price of a barrel of oil was $150 and went to less than $40. That is why the price of gas dropped to $1.78.
yeah...the price of gasoline has nothing to do with free-market economics....and the fact that oil producers also control the gasoline production....which not surprisingly is continually interupted by "accidents", "maintenance", "seasonal change-over", and any other excuse that will explain how a glut of oil leads to a shortage of gasoline.
Obama haters are idiots.
This is so stupid! Stop wasting tax money on all these sports lawsuites. Why is the post office a goverment office giving 30 million to sponser in the first place? And why go after the 30 million back. Said in the artical they made $100 million from it! So what they want to make $100 million but want their 30 mill back. Sounds like our poloticans crooks!!!!!
The Government-run Post Office has been loosing close to $6 Billion a year and they are spending $30M on bike racing. That's the biggest joke of all!
The only reason the Post office loses that much money each year, is because in 2006, Congress mandated the Post office must put $5billion a year into it's pension fund to fund retirment for 75 years. It is funding the retirement of employees that have not been born yet.
Sounds like a witch hunt that the US Government needs to stay out of. Mind their business and quit spending tax payers money.
i am a runner and weekend athlete and compete for fun. i always felt this guy was dirty. i have been taking heat for years from athletes and collegues who worship this guy. think of the millions he made cheating while a good chunk of us are sweating every paycheck, the price of gas, unemployment, healthcare, college costs, etc in this country. he's one of the biggest backstabbers in sports and everyone he stepped on on his way to the top should have a shot as he goes down. i don't want that "i'm sorry" from him. have a nice $hitty rest of your life lance. you've got more enemys then friends right now.
Wow. Some of us don't have that vitriol, because we do not look to athletes to be role models. They are athletes. Sorry you feel the need to pile on a man who is down. That speaks volumes about your character.
Armstrong deserves piling on.He sued a lot of people based on them lying about his PED usage.He deserves jail time.
Amen/That is the problem I have with him. How are you going to sue someone knowingly that they are telling the truth? And now he wants to fess up. Now that shows real character.
Good. We will not stop, Lance, until you are bankrupt and in prison. You should and will lose everything.
And you will gain nothing. Your point?
He should lose everything, but of course he won't. I never see him going to prison either. There will be a plea bargin, or a Congressman friend will step in, etc., and save Lance's sorry ass.
A more fitting punishement would be for him to have to tattoo "SCUMBAG" across his forehead. And pay every penny of legal fees incurred by, and damages done to, the people who spoke out about his doping in years past and were ruthlessly attacked by his lawyers.
Of course he won't be going to jail, it's a civil suit :/
That's a real good use of taxpayer money. I'm sure the US will recover a lot from the soon to be broke bicycle racer who has the entire world trying to get whatever money he has left. I do have an alternative. Why not just send the money to me and I'll promise to waste it just as efficiently as the government.
What a huge waste of time and money. US Postal Service sponsored Armstrong for the same reason Nike sponsors athletes - for publicity. As Armstrong was winning titles, they got what they paid for. Spare me the holier-than-thou arguments. Yawn. I mean really - it's cycling, not a real sport anyways.
What was the post office doing sponsoring ANYONE?
Exactly.
I don't get that either!...Why would the post office need to sponsor anyone! What like because we see Armstrong in an ad we are going to send more letters and packages ?!?1?1!? And now we're going to use a broke government's resources to go after this deal vs. all the bankers and fund managers that has caused people to lose their jobs and homes ??!?!?!? Man is this country screwed up or what?
I am confused - how can the government join in the lawsuit again Lance Armstrong when:
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an "independent establishment of the executive branch" of the United States Government (see 39 U.S.C. § 201) responsible for providing postal service in the United States. Within the United States, it is generally referred to as "the post office."
The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g. Amtrak), but as noted above is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States,"[cite this quote] as it is wholly owned by the government and controlled by the Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USPS
The feral government has its nose in EVERYTHING, except the things it's actually supposed to do, like enforce the borders and deport ILLEGAL immigrants. (I love LEGAL immigrants.)
Lance's major crime has nothing to do with doping.
His major crime is that he is not one of Eric Holder's people.
The "feral" government - LOL.
Amen, Joe. I was going to make the same comment. While we have a Congress that hasn't passed a budget since Obama was elected and a DOJ that refuses to prosecute ICE cases that involve border jumpers ... our DOJ is too worried about defending the government from lawsuits due to Obama ordering federal contractors not to inform workers they were going to be laid off due to the sequestor (per the law) and Lance Armstrong winning races. Who cares about Armstrong and who cares about steroids in baseball? Spend your time CUTTING the budget and not spending my tax dollars on art shows in Egypt and LONG term unemployment and abortions!! Did you know Planned Parenthood got $500M in federal funds this year and posted a $500M PROFIT!! How much did they give to Obama's campaign? Look into THAT!!!!!!!!!
Yep, funnel thousands of arms to Mexican drug cartels that kill and maim Mexican and US citizens, let a US Ambassador and 3 citizens die in an arms smuggling operation in Bengazi cover it up and lie about it no one is held responsible. Washington borrows 4 billion a day indebting future generations of our children but use HGH and win the Tour de France 7 times and bring the full weight of the US Government down on you!!! Life sure can be funny!
Enough already!!!!!
He is definitely going through a very brutal downfall.