The Next Step--Target Letters

[TubularBills]

FCPA? That's a possibility. FCPA is designed to punish corporations and businesses for engaging in certain practices. Tailwind is a business and Lance now knows he has an ownership interest. Time will tell, eh?

Witness tampering does indeed go beyond just perjury issues. It will be interesting to find out if these guys have been under wiretap surveillance and for how long. All their emails and text message are obtainable via supboenas to ISPs.

For any other laymen out there who may not have any idea what FCPA stands for. A Primer:

FCPA=

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq. ("FCPA"), was enacted for the purpose of making it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. Specifically, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prohibit the willful use of the mails or any means of instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of any offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of money or anything of value to any person, while knowing that all or a portion of such money or thing of value will be offered, given or promised, directly or indirectly, to a foreign official to influence the foreign official in his or her official capacity, induce the foreign official to do or omit to do an act in violation of his or her lawful duty, or to secure any improper advantage in order to assist in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.

http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/

But it may not apply, right? Because neither Verbruggen and McQuaid are "foreign government officials," and neither are Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett... each of whom have been allegedly linked by inappropriate monetary exchanges or investments in return for favorable treatment & spin.

 

[washedup]

For any other laymen out there who may not have any idea what FCPA stands for. A Primer:

FCPA=

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78dd-1, et seq. ("FCPA"), was enacted for the purpose of making it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. Specifically, the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA prohibit the willful use of the mails or any means of instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of any offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment of money or anything of value to any person, while knowing that all or a portion of such money or thing of value will be offered, given or promised, directly or indirectly, to a foreign official to influence the foreign official in his or her official capacity, induce the foreign official to do or omit to do an act in violation of his or her lawful duty, or to secure any improper advantage in order to assist in obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.

http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/

Wouldn't it need to be tied to a government organization?

 

[TubularBills]

Wouldn't it need to be tied to a government organization?

Yeah, I belatedly caught that too and edited my original query. Perhaps RR and/or Cimacoppi49 could clarify?

 

[washedup]

Still, with all the dirty hands over the years, a government tie is not out of the question.

 

[Race Radio]

Wouldn't it need to be tied to a government organization?

FCPA was amended in 1999 to include “public international organizations”. This was in response to the Salt Lake City bribery scandal. The IOC, UCI, World Bank, etc would fall under this.

 

[washedup]

FCPA was amended in 1999 to include “public international organizations”. This was in response to the Salt Lake City bribery scandal. The IOC, UCI, World Bank, etc would fall under this.

You just made my day... I have always been a fan of the FCPA. It polices the world so well.... but my old international law classes always talked of it's limits.

 

[Bilirubin]

This place is going to be nuts for the next few months.

Agreed. We're already getting drunken posts about hookers and blow at training camps from some of the more deranged critics. Just imagine what this place will be like when the indictments come?

For some people seeing Armstrong in court is the main event in their lives, far bigger than any grand tour. Sad really.

 

[Race Radio]

Agreed. We're already getting drunken posts about hookers and blow at training camps from some of the more deranged critics. Just imagine what this place will be like when the indictments come?

For some people seeing Armstrong in court is the main event in their lives, far bigger than any grand tour. Sad really.

thanks for proving my point.

Lance is not the only one worried, the groupies are getting scared that the myth is coming apart. At least the Public Strategies interns can get some overtime.

 

[washedup]

If only the public strategists would come clean when this is all over so we can look back and smile.

 

[Race Radio]

If only the public strategists would come clean when this is all over so we can look back and smile.

The interns are getting angry. The Fabricator gets $30,000 per month for his garbage and all they get is course credit and a Mellow Johnnies gift certificate.

 

[Cimacoppi49]

Does anyone know if Anderson and his wife, the former personal assistant employed in Spain by Armstrong, has been before the Grand Jury?

 

[TubularBills]

Agreed. We're already getting drunken posts about hookers and blow at training camps from some of the more deranged critics. Just imagine what this place will be like when the indictments come?

For some people seeing Armstrong in court is the main event in their lives, far bigger than any grand tour. Sad really.

Vindication is an important final step in catharsis.

A crucial step in enabling the sport to move beyond the Armstrong 'legacy.'

 

[Dettol]

Does anyone know if Anderson and his wife, the former personal assistant employed in Spain by Armstrong, has been before the Grand Jury?

Didn't he say Armstrong was using steroids some time ago?

The wash up will be interesting particularly for the UCI. Man cycling is going to be in the proverbial for a few years after this but hopefully it will come out better and cleaner.

 

[Cimacoppi49]

Didn't he say Armstrong was using steroids some time ago?

The wash up will be interesting particularly for the UCI. Man cycling is going to be in the proverbial for a few years after this but hopefully it will come out better and cleaner.

I forget which drug he found, but he also alleged that Armstrong was still using Ferrari in 2004 and that Ferrari went to Armstrong's training camp in the Canary Islands shortly after Anderson found the drug boxes in Armstrong's medicine cabinet.

If this goes down the way it appears to be heading, I think the general public is going to be amazed by the depth and breadth of the conspiracy alleged. Will the sport come out of it better? I hope so, but human nature is what it is.

 

[D-Queued]

Agreed. We're already getting drunken posts about hookers and blow at training camps from some of the more deranged critics. Just imagine what this place will be like when the indictments come?

For some people seeing Armstrong in court is the main event in their lives, far bigger than any grand tour. Sad really.

And, Lance and his twitter can still outdo all of them in less than 140 characters.

Sad? Crazy, is more like it. But, sad for the sport to accomodate such raving sociopaths. Sad that some folks continue their fawning and misguided cognitive dissonance.

In the end, just like Dave B and Trust but Verify, these are the true casualties.

Dave B and Trustbut did not admit to the obvious. Nor has he amended to post that Landis has come clean - let alone the full aftermath. There is no retraction posted on his site. He is still paying to keep the site alive on the web, even while claiming it was closed two years ago.

Thus, he apparently cannot help himself but to continue perpetuating a lie.

Sad really.

Dave.

 

[thehog]

I forget which drug he found, but he also alleged that Armstrong was still using Ferrari in 2004 and that Ferrari went to Armstrong's training camp in the Canary Islands shortly after Anderson found the drug boxes in Armstrong's medicine cabinet.

If this goes down the way it appears to be heading, I think the general public is going to be amazed by the depth and breadth of the conspiracy alleged. Will the sport come out of it better? I hope so, but human nature is what it is.

The drug find by Anderson is not the biggest detail from the court papers. Anderson having to speed off in Lance's car to foil drug testers was way more interesting. Also Armstrong using enhanced cancer treatment for a friend of Anderson as a bribe to drop the complaint.*

 

[theswordsman]

Does anyone know if Anderson and his wife, the former personal assistant employed in Spain by Armstrong, has been before the Grand Jury?

He's active on this forum, and this thread, and living in New Zealand.

In a Cycling Weekly article about the meetings in Lyons, five of the American contingent were named, and one was an FBI Special Agent. So it's not just the FDA working on this for the Feds.

The AFLD had the six 1999 samples that were positive for EPO, but they also had all the samples from the 2000 & 2001 Tours. I think it's significant that they felt a need to store them past the eight year statute of limitations. This isn't a doping case per se, but having hard evidence that he cheated in more than one Tour is huge for the fraud and perjury charges, if the samples are dirty.

I'm interested to see just how involved he and Bruyneel were in terms of a doping network. But yeah, these are exciting times for people who love cycling even those like me who used to be casual Armstrong fans.

 

[frenchfry]

Does anyone think the livestrong.com scam and the use of cancer donations to finance a private jet is included in the scope of the investigation? I would like to see the truth come out on that.

The main cycling related issues that I would like to see prosecuted are the obligation to dope imposed on teammates (at least for certain races) and the UCI bribes. Throw in a little drug trafficing and some tax evasion and that should just about cover things.

I am surprised that things are moving so quickly, although it appears that some of the digging began before this became such a big story. Lance really appears to be screwed, who would have thunk it at the beginning of the year.

 

[Dettol]

I'm not sure their attention span will last that long to look into the facts. It'll be a case so he did dope, well I gues it's true all cyclists dope. Then maybe some rationalisation that he doped because he had cancer and wanted to even the score with life.

Though I expect a lot of non-cycling fans are going to prod anybody the follows cycling at work etc about how corrupt cycling is.

 

[Bike Opera]

I intended to ask Santa for a Fidea team kit, but all I want for Christmas is...

...for Novitzky to drop a dazzling shock-and-awe on Lance...

That and a new bike to replace my overpriced Madone 6 that I can't bare to ride anymore.

This place is going to be nuts for the next few months.

Yeah, it's going to be a great show. Thanks for the informative posts, Race Radio.

 

[Bilirubin]

And, Lance and his twitter can still outdo all of them in less than 140 characters.

Sad? Crazy, is more like it. But, sad for the sport to accomodate such raving sociopaths. Sad that some folks continue their fawning and misguided cognitive dissonance.

Do you really think Armstrong is more sociopathic than some of his critics? There are people here that seem to genuinely believe all of his fans are paid for by a PR group called Public Strategies (who do normal PR work like help write public statements and advise on advertising campaigns). And they also think the LiveStrong charity is a "scam" that should be shut down. There does seem to be some underlying psychological problems at play here. Do you not find any of that disturbing?

 

[D-Queued]

Do you really think Armstrong is more sociopathic than some of his critics? There are people here that seem to genuinely believe all of his fans are paid for by a PR group called Public Strategies (who do normal PR work like help write public statements and advise on advertising campaigns). And they also think the LiveStrong charity is a "scam" that should be shut down. There does seem to be some underlying psychological problems at play here. Do you not find any of that disturbing?

I cannot speak for his critics, sorry.

But, perhaps you don't believe in miracles. Why do you love cancer?

Dave.

P.S. Can you provide a link to this PR group so that maybe I can get two cents for my thoughts?

 

[Dettol]

To successful in sport and in business (as the recent finacial crises has shown) you do need to be a sociopath. I think there was an article some time back that confirmed this.

 

[Bilirubin]

I cannot speak for his critics, sorry.

But, perhaps you don't believe in miracles. Why do you love cancer?

Dave.

P.S. Can you provide a link to this PR group so that maybe I can get two cents for my thoughts?

It's a public relations firm. It would be hard to name a high profile celebrity that is NOT on the books of a public relations firm. It's normal practise. It doesn't stop scandals occuring or control the media, it just helps put a positive spin on what the client is doing. But the way it is painted here is as if it is more powerful than the CIA and Mossad put together. The fact that Novitzky's department has had better control over the media since before the tour doesn't seem to embarrass them from making these charges. There does seem to be a certain about of delusion.

 

[TubularBills]

To successful in sport and in business (as the recent finacial crises has shown) you do need to be a sociopath. I think there was an article some time back that confirmed this.

Some rely on innovation and altruism, discipline, motivation and enthusiasm:

Apple - Jobs & Wozniak
Google - Brin and Page
Microsoft - Gates and Allen
North Face - Tompkins
Patagonia - Chouinard