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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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armstrong and blade runner are coming up with a new relay race for the coming olympics.
Well we dont know if this is true.
Let me get this right.... Washington is full of crooks (who hardly work more than a 30 hr week between vacations), not to mention Wall Street screwing the people of their jobs and money, and yet they are gonna waste tax dollars to go after Armstrong?! Give me a break!! I want my tax dollars back and I'll balance my own budget, thank you very much! US Gov is a waste of money and full of do-nothing, self-interest groups. Going after Armstrong is just a story to divert attention from their failures to deliver as promised during all their campaigns... BOTH PARTIES. Washington better closely consider the new gun laws because it would restrict the mobs to pitchforks and torches when the people come after them. Taking care of American citizens is job priority 1 and Washington doesn't know or care. Sick of their crap.
Eric Holder and his justice department and Travis Tygart have no business going after anyone, both having their own sorry-ass backgrounds. I'll take Armstrong's accomplishments, with or without drugs, over anything either of those two phonies have ever done for other than themselves . . . .
It cost the Postal Service $30 million dollars to sponsor his teams? They gained $100 million dollars in revenue as a result. M-m-m....that means that Lance could countersue for the remaining balance which, obviously, the Postal Service doesn't need. Makes sense to me.
The post office benefited by 100 million at a cost of 30 million? I don't see how there are any damages there! They benefited from the fraud, I think they should be sued by the Tour organizers who paid out the money for Lance's wins and for the endorsements that should have illegally gone to the other cyclists who were cheating as well and either weren't doing it as well as Armstrong's team or didn't get caught.
Show me one competative athelete who hasn't done something to enhance their performance, allbeit maybe not crossing over the line with substances which their respective sport regulates. They all play that fine line. What a frickin joke this entire debacle! Take all these lawers and prosecuters out and bury them up to their necks in the desert sand and let their flesh burn off slowly and the buzzards start picking at what's left while they're still half alive like in a bad 'spaghetti' western. I'd be so loving to see that!
. . . there's GOTTA be some more Marc Riches out there somewhere to pardon . . . .
Couldn't happen to a nicer cheat...
Sue the Postal Service for spending 30 million doallars of tax payer money for sponsoring his teams, all the while, they have been going broke. Tort law would allow it as negigent spending.
They are a quasi-govenment agency and not supported by the taxpayer. Their source of funds comes from postal users only.
well Joe the Pimple... THE MEXICANS, GUATEMALANS and all of the people Native to the American were here in the Americans WAY before you and the other European and other mixed mongrel's ...IT IS THEIR NATIVE LAND... I love Hispanic immigrants legal or not... better people that most European descended Americans, better workers, nicer, more family oriented
rob@Chicago
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.
registered voter-6706797
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.
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There are more important things the DOJ should be doing then playing gotcha with Armstrong.
How about cracking down on Big Oil for gouging us and thus damaging the economy.
Yea, plus about 50 other more important things they should be doing than this. The DOJ stands for Department of Jacka**es. And Holder is the king JA.
Fed up. Leave the man alone. Go after the real criminals in this land. If Lance were to kill himself, there would be all sorts of sympathy and empathy. They're looking to drive him insane. He has lost enough. Leave him alone now and go after the murderers and perverts. Enough Already!
The Point is that Lance Amstrong was a CANCER patient, for him erythropoyetin/autologous transfussions "was normal as part of tx chemotherapy complications..."
REALITY: erythropoyetin/transfussions are very DANGEROUS: Cerebrovascular Accidents, Clots everywhere, Pulmonary embolisms, Hypertension... BENEFITS OR "ENHANCERS"?:NONE than practicing 2 weeks before competition in a high altitude place would do.... SICOLOGICAL yes! Amstrong has "Open a Pandora Box" atheletes are competitive they will push themselves "ahead & beyond" and are being exposed to "fraudulent enhancers" that can cost their lives!!!!
NEW REGULATIONS: has to be done to teach and protect athletes from these dangerous frauds that can cost their LIVES.
So, Everyone is a respectable, wealthy, famous athlete/pop-star/politician until they cheat, murder, or screw up in some horrible ways. I wonder who's going to be find out in the next weeks/months/years/decades/. Remember though, to make it right, hire a good lawyer, publicist, and asks for public redemption, people will forgive and forget easily.
the gobament need to take demself to court
Yeah, he is. And he deserves every once of misery coming his way, having held himself up as a living god, when in reality he was nothing more than a common thug, who in the process of perpetuating one of the longest ever frauds in sports history destroyed the lives of anyone who dared speak out against him.
Jealous, because he is so fat he can't even pedal to the store to cash in his food stamps. LOL
It's the fault of the upper 1% (they're the source of all our problems (according to the king living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave)!
DoJ goes after a bike rider, but chooses not to prosecute NASA Ames personnel for providing China and other nations nationally sensitive technology. Where is DoJ leadership?
I just feel bad for all the other racers in the TDF. The ones that trained honestly and dedicated their lives to competing with like minded players only to have this scumbag rob them of all that hardwork and sacrifice. If I had come in second or third in any of the races, I would be PISSED!!!!!
This is just stunning incompetence and political tone deafness! With a sequester looming that could sink the economy, this is our priority?! Let me get this straight. Governors and States Attorney's in PA, Ohio, Colorado, Florida, and Virginia engage in massive, illegal voter suppression and intimidation campaigns and AG Holder just walks away from it. The Koch brothers openly pay for statewide efforts to gerrymander entire states to restrict equal representation, majority opinion and rig future elections. And AG Holder just turns his head the other way. Lance Armstrong gets caught using PED in bicycle races, with drugs that were probably initially prescribed to him to assisit his recovery from life threatening cancer. And that is a national issue worth investigating and pursuing? Sweet Jesus on a Pogo stick! This is stunning hubris.
Regardless of where you stack up on Lance Armstrong, this is a complete joke and mockery of the law. And it is misplaced priority of the highest order. But so typical of politicians from both parties. "nail the drug user and let the pusher/producer run free". Because the drug producers are typically big time financial contributors to the Parties. This is sick!
The Postal Service should not be spending one dime on sponsorship, speculation or anything other than processing and delivering the mail. US citizens are facing mail delivery cuts due to the whining of the Postal Service that they cannot afford 6 days a week delivery.
Instead, the government should sue the Postal Service for misuse of funds and fraud, as in, fat chance that will happen. Pres Owahwah needs to rethink this total waste of the U.S. citizens money.
Ahhh of course our great God the federal gov has to stick it's nose into the deal. F they make me sick.
Who gives a flying F about Lance Armstrong? Hey DOJ, hows that wall street investigation going, hows fast and furious going, hows Bengazi going, hows corruption in every sector of government going? This is the headline on NBC's homepage? If this isn't a planted distraction and more proof that the MSM is the mouthpiece of the elite, i don't know what is.
In the big scheme of things this isn't as bad as other fraud cases out there that they should go ahead on. Taxpayer dollars are pretty scarce and if they gather their resources for a case it should be a more serious matter that impacts the collective rather than an individual. This will be a very difficult case to prove and ultimately win.
Wait...let me get this straight. Lance got caught cheating because the other cheaters dimed him out and now the US Gov is going after because???...BUT, the money grubbing douche-bags who sit atop Wall Street...who caused the collapse of the worlds economies got to keep their money and were allowed to play another day?
WHAT THE FECK!!!