Lance Armstrong on doping charges: USADA case "long on stale allegations" and "short on evidence"
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong attends the 2012 Paris Roubaix cycle race from Compiegne to Roubaix on April 8, 2012 in Paris, France. / Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
(CBS/AP) AUSTIN, Texas - Lance Armstrong filed a scathing response Friday to the latest doping allegations against him, accusing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of violating its own rules and possibly breaking federal law during its investigation.
The agency said Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs and other improper methods to win cycling's premiere event, the Tour de France, from 1999-2005. Friday was the deadline for Armstrong to respond to USADA's warning that charges were pending before his case moves to the next stage.
Armstrong, who denies doping and notes he has never failed a drug test, could be stripped of his titles and banned from cycling, though he retired from the sport last year.
In their 11-page document, Armstrong's attorneys complained they still haven't been allowed to see the evidence against him, including witness names and any expert analysis to support USADA's claim that 2009 and 2010 blood tests are "fully consistent" with blood doping.
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The letter said USADA's case is "long on stale allegations disproved long ago and short on evidence" and "offensive to any notions of due process."
Armstrong's case now goes to a three-person USADA review board, which will decide if there is enough evidence to support the charges. If USADA files formal charges, the case could go to a three-person arbitration panel by November.
"The Review Board must recommend that this case not move forward," the letter said.
Armstrong's attorneys made similar claims in previous letters, but Friday's document appeared to lay out his potential legal strategy should he file a federal lawsuit against USADA.
Armstrong's letter argues that USADA's rules allow the review board to consider materials submitted from an accused athlete, but complains that he can't mount a legitimate defense until he's able to see the evidence against him. USADA has said it is withholding witness identities to protect them from intimidation.
Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive officer, said in a statement that the rules "provide full due process and are designed to get to the truth."
USADA's warning letter to Armstrong said 10 former teammates are willing to testify that they either know he used performance-enhancing drugs or talked about using them and encouraged them within the team. USADA says Armstrong used the blood-booster EPO, steroids and improper blood transfusions.
Armstrong's attorneys say they believe USADA investigators coerced false testimony from witnesses by promising not to charge them with doping; they argue this could violate bribery laws.
They also question whether USADA improperly gained access to testimony in a recent federal grand jury criminal investigation that ended in February with no charges filed against Armstrong.
The letter notes that Tygart participated in witness interviews with federal criminal investigators.
Armstrong's letter also challenged the 2009-2010 blood tests, which were taken during his two-year comeback from retirement. Armstrong passed all his drug tests during that period and posted his testing results on his website, Livestrong.com, and no charges were brought, the letter said.
It also said most of the allegations fall outside of USADA's eight-year statute of limitations but the agency argues that Armstrong keeps expanding the time limit by continuing to deny drug use.
USADA has said it is also pursuing doping charges against Johan Bruyneel, the manager of Armstrong's winning Tour de France teams; team doctors Pedro Celaya and Luis Garcia del Moral; team trainer Pepe Marti, and consulting doctor Michele Ferrari.
Bruyneel, who now leads the RadioShack-Nissan-Trek team, said Friday he won't attend this year's Tour de France because the allegations would be a distraction for his team and the race. Bruyneel says he is innocent.
Armstrong has been dogged by doping allegations since his first Tour victory in 1999, but had hoped his fight to be viewed as a clean champion was finally won after federal prosecutors closed their probe. Armstrong has said the investigation took a heavy emotional toll and he was relieved when it ended. (Watch "60 Minutes" report from May 2011 on Armstrong doping allegations.)Popular in Sports
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After you get through with this vendetta, USADA, if you want to continue wasting money here's an idea: Babe Ruth ate a heckuva lot of hot dogs and no doubt ingested all sorts of substances that have now banned - how about going after him next?
Your point and that of the USADA is the reason that ol' Lance has been examined more thoroughly than any other athlete in the history competition.
Neither one of you can accept even the remotest, one in Avogadro's number chance he did this without SOME kind of pharmceutical boost. It simply isn't possible; not even a matter subject for debate. It can't happen - PERIOD. Therefore, the simple fact he IS able to do these impossible things means he MUST be doping.
Truth to tell, I don't blame you. Even I think it stretches credibility a bit to believe Mr. Armstrong did all of what he did on his own.
But neither did he "clearly" dope. He may have but has never been caught out on any test administered by any testing body. And remember the USADA has had it for him years; if there is ANY one who could trip him up it would be they. However vindictive, however unethical they may be, they are very good at ferreting out cheaters. They can catch very clever dopers, and sometimes "catch" innocent ones as well. The fact they have never been able to nail Lance inspite of an almost obsessive effort to do so tells me one of two things:
1. Lance is almost uniquely clever which given the little I know of the man is a long shot. He simply isn't that bright. Or.
2. Unlikely as it seems, he really is clean. Because.
As much as the USADA continuously salivates at the prospect of catching Armstrong out; as much as they want to tack his hide to a wall, and the almost obscene lengths they have gone to
do so they haven't even been able to come close;
And until they do, with evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, we'll just have to accept the unlikely (and maybe unpleasant) possibility he really is honest.
I don't know whether Lance is clean or not; I suspect he isn't but IF he isn't, he's got to be the cleverest man in the universe. IF he isn't; there has never been anyone like him in the history of deception. Gawd, what a CIA operative was lost in this guy - they'd give up half of Western Europe to get him! And if he IS clean, and he could easily be in spite of my doubts, then there's going to be a lot of egg on the faces of a lot of stuffy ol' suits in an agency whose reputation for ethics (deserved or not) ain't a whole lot better than Kenny Lay's.
Assuming, for the moment he IS clean, we need to account for the fact there are a lot of factors that influence outlier performances like Armstrong's that may not have anything to to with "better living through chemistry". Motivation is a strong one, so's innate athleticism. Lance may simply have a set of lungs that are way better at getting O2 to the bloodstream. And that may be tied to a circulatory system that was robust to start with and has been honed to the degree it has by years of masochistic training.
Just because the USADA thinks he's tainted; just because their narrative prevents them from believing Armstrong's level of performance is flatly and frankly impossible without chemical help doesn't make it so. If they haven't been able to prove anything definitve in the 14 years they have had a go at him, it really is time to stop with the harrassment.
Additionally, this one statement proves the IQ of the people Lance is having to deal with:
"......the agency argues that Armstrong keeps expanding the time limit by continuing to deny drug use."
What IDIOT in the USADA thought this one up????
How long would ANYONE claim their innocence when they didn't do what they were accused of??????
Some folks should NEVER be given a suit and a tie!
I don't think he did it. I just can't see someone who has already fought for their life with cancer, deliberately doing something that could cause more physical problems for them. It just makes no sense.
The more I hear about this the more it seems to me instead of a cheating athlete, someone has a personal vendetta against him. Instead of a cheating athlete, perhaps his ex is on the USADA~