US prosecutors drop case against Armstrong/USPS

[thehog]

I preferred this gem.

In January 2011, Sports Illustrated published a story containing allegations that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs. Knowing that USADA announced it was investigating him and his sport the previous May, he took to Twitter:

"Great to hear that USADA is investigating some of SI's claims. I look forward to being vindicated."

If Armstrong is so vigorously supportive of USADA's work, we should be, too.

I look forward to WADA and USADA taking their evidence of doping to CAS. Then CAS recommending that Armstrong should be sanctioned for 2 years and have his titles removed. One this happens the UCI will refuse to accept the verdict and nothing will happen. Still 7-time champion.

 

[LarryBudMelman]

I look forward to WADA and USADA taking their evidence of doping to CAS. Then CAS recommending that Armstrong should be sanctioned for 2 years and have his titles removed. One this happens the UCI will refuse to accept the verdict and nothing will happen. Still 7-time champion.

Good! Then people will realize Pro Cycling is a complete effing joke and guys who have "dedicated their lives to anti-doping" like JV, will have to open their mouths.

People are getting exactly what they deserve on many levels. If they're not going to be honest, they deserve this nonsense.

 

[goober]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colu...mstrong-case-rolls-on-as-it-should/53016026/1

Yes - there is mounds of evidence against a bunch of riders and 2 team managers. Not much around Lance though...

 

[MarkvW]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colu...mstrong-case-rolls-on-as-it-should/53016026/1

Very encouraging post. I can't imagine how this situation is any different from BALCO.

Will Armstrong fight disclosure or not? If he fights, 'the most tested man in sports' will ignite a media firestorm. If he doesn't, formal outing is just a matter of time.

If the feds don't give up the information, WADA/USADA seems to be hinting that they will fight. Seems too soon to infer that the feds won't turn the info oover.

 

[BotanyBay]

"Great to hear that USADA is investigating some of SI's claims. I look forward to being vindicated."

Thanks Race (for posting that). I look forward to Lance's re-tweet of that same statement. I also look forward to his vindication.

 

[Berzin]

Here is the scoop from (yes) an inside source in Italian Law Enforcement...

The USADA, WADA, or any other governing body isn't going to do the job some would like to see going forward because of lack of money and absolutely no political will.

One of the issues that encouraged the European authorities is the fact that the Feds brought to the table a decent budget to put into the investigation.

They took heart from this, and as the investigation progressed they uncovered much more than they hoped for. Once the US Feds shuttered the idea at what turned out to be almost the final hour, everyone on the other side of the pond threw up their hands in despair and are, one by one, giving up the ghost.

Suddenly the investigation coordinators that convened at Interpol are looking at the money spent so far and are refusing to allocate any more time and resources to what has been referred to as "some stupid old man and his bag of potions" (this is in reference to Dr. Ferrari by an understandably irate Italian prosecutor).

And they are extremely upset with the US Feds for encouraging the investigation and then dropping it, leaving some law-enforcement budgets in a bit of the red with nothing to show for the time and money invested. Expect cooperation going forward in other cases, regardless of import, to be strained.

The evidence/testimony taken from people like Hamilton, Landis, etc. was nothing but icing on the cake. They were just stories to solidify the truly disturbing aspects of what Dr. Ferrari was up to in cahoots with Armstrong and Bruyneel.

But the good doctor lawyered up as soon the Swiss accounts were frozen and the pressure has been relentless from his side, and he is not talking about anything to anyone.

With the budget woes the European community is experiencing, expect Dr. Ferrari to quietly settle out of court with a bit of a fine and nothing more.

 

[VeloCity]

Send what you have to Breitbart. Dude love high profile exposes.

Dude loves to make **** up, too.

 

[BotanyBay]

Very encouraging post. I can't imagine how this situation is any different from BALCO.

Will Armstrong fight disclosure or not? If he fights, 'the most tested man in sports' will ignite a media firestorm. If he doesn't, formal outing is just a matter of time.

If the feds don't give up the information, WADA/USADA seems to be hinting that they will fight. Seems too soon to infer that the feds won't turn the info oover.

And let us ask ourselves this question again. For a guy that has done so much good, and accomplished so much, he sure seems to have a LOT of haters. Trouble seems to follow this guy. And why is this? I've been alive for more than a few decades, and I can't seem to remember the same level of negativity surrounding others who have the same types of accomplishments.

The guy comes across as rebellious but nice in "Not About the Bike", and has seemed to be very media savvy in general. Gets hot rock star chicks when he wants, etc. He's got a legion of yellow-band wearing people who'd throw themselves down on a set of railroad tracks to take his place. And yet, still, he can't shake the haters.

Why is that? I can't think of another public figure in my lifetime that seems to have had the same dichotomy that Lance does.

Einstein? Haters are really silent. OJ? Had virtually no haters until he cut-up his wife and her hook-up. Derek Jeter? One night stands get a really awesome gift basket on the limo ride home. Tiger? His only haters (pre-sex-addiction) were older, white southerners that thought he was "uppity"

 

[BotanyBay]

The USADA, WADA, or any other governing body isn't going to do the job some would like to see going forward because of lack of money and absolutely no political will.

There is ALWAYS political will when it comes to issues that involve the IOC and American participation in IOC events (IE, the Olympics). The question that remains to be answered is, "Is this political will the SAME political will that shut down the federal prosecution?"

Way back when Mr Richard (DEE, EYE CEE, KAY) Pound headed WADA, I became increasingly outraged at how he would open his big trap at really dumb times in regards to Wunderboy. He was so obviously biased, he quite literally threatened the notion that any athlete could have their case evaluated by an impartial set of people. Deeek was far from impartial. And in order to fight this fight, we needed WADA to be credible. So I started trying to contact WADA board members to privately lobby them to either slap some tape on his mouth, or remove him from his position. And that is where I saw just how "political" this whole business is. The US representatives on the WADA board of directors were all political appointees of the Bush administration.

The point I'm trying to make is: Politics are pervasive. They never go away. Political will is always present. You just have to stick your toe in the water and correctly evaluate the temperature and direction of flow. The latter is the harder to master.

 

[Polish]

Considering they just gave him a get out of jail free card, how would that work?

They would just open the investigation and he just spent millions getting closed.

Agree, my thoughts exactly.
Being cleared by the Feds is priceless.
No amount of money could buy that PR masterpeiece.
Why would HWMNBN complain. C'mon, complain?
Sue the Government for damages?
Damages? What what what?

And complaining about the waste of taxpayer money now is futile.
Money has already been wasted. Can't get it back.

But if anyone is concerned about wasting taxpayer money in the future, the USADA/WADA smearjob witch hunt should be nipped in the bud.
Learn from other's mistakes. Duh.
Oh, wait until HWMNBN is cleared by CAS years down the road before you complain? Learn from your mistakes boys.

 

[Anonymous]

Agree, my thoughts exactly.
Being cleared by the Feds is priceless.
No amount of money could buy that PR masterpeiece.
Why would HWMNBN complain. C'mon, complain?
Sue the Government for damages?
Damages? What what what?

And complaining about the waste of taxpayer money now is futile.
Money has already been wasted. Can't get it back.

But if anyone is concerned about wasting taxpayer money in the future, the USADA/WADA smearjob witch hunt should be nipped in the bud.
Learn from other's mistakes. Duh.
Oh, wait until HWMNBN is cleared by CAS years down the road before you complain? Learn from your mistakes boys.

Being cleared by the Feds is priceless.

Except, of course, he was not cleared by the Feds. lol

False info on the boards make me angry. Grrrr

Nice try though. lol

 

[BotanyBay]

Brutha has a conservative standard for the determination of guilt, but a liberal standard for the delcaration of innocence.

Considering the fervor with which he seems to historically pursue "injustice" (ex: Simeoni, Hamilton), one would hope that he would apply the same fervor towards extracting that same justice from Birotte & crew. Instead, he "applauds" these same people that just made his life hellacious for 2 years?

What? Not even a sarcastic Tweet? Humility? Where the hell did that come from?

 

[MarkvW]

And let us ask ourselves this question again. For a guy that has done so much good, and accomplished so much, he sure seems to have a LOT of haters. Trouble seems to follow this guy. And why is this? I've been alive for more than a few decades, and I can't seem to remember the same level of negativity surrounding others who have the same types of accomplishments.

The guy comes across as rebellious but nice in "Not About the Bike", and has seemed to be very media savvy in general. Gets hot rock star chicks when he wants, etc. He's got a legion of yellow-band wearing people who'd throw themselves down on a set of railroad tracks to take his place. And yet, still, he can't shake the haters.

Why is that? I can't think of another public figure in my lifetime that seems to have had the same dichotomy that Lance does.

Einstein? Haters are really silent. OJ? Had virtually no haters until he cut-up his wife and her hook-up. Derek Jeter? One night stands get a really awesome gift basket on the limo ride home. Tiger? His only haters (pre-sex-addiction) were older, white southerners that thought he was "uppity"

People hate to see cheaters get away with it. We have all sorts of rationalizations that allow us to ignore cheating that is discreet and quiet, but we get really angry when it is right up in our face and we can't ignore it.

Lance is way up in our faces with his holier-than-thou cancer schtick, and he didn't just win, he dominated the TdF like no other. And it's all predicated on really sophisticated very long-term cheating. People see Lance get away with that and they feel powerless. And they get angry, and they want to see the SOB taken down.

And I'm not sure that the Lance-hate isn't relatively isolated to a subset of the small group of people who follow cycling. If you don't care much about cycling, then the cheating isn't in your face and you can conveniently ignore it.

If you want a good polarizing love-hate analogy, I suggest Nixon. He was a massively polarizing figure. Lots of politicians. Maybe Michael Jackson (many people continue to love his memory).

Another idea: People love to forgive fallen sports heroes. Sports is the same old dramas played out over and over and over again, and we never get tired of it. Struggle . . . Success . . . Victory . . . Loss . . . Resolution. Lance isn't giving us resolution--and we're frustrated. His personal sports drama isn't playing out according the normal script. He should have been caught, punished, forgiven and embraced long ago, but that hasn't happened. The Lance story is "stuck," and that is unusual. I can't think of any sports dramas that have dragged out like this one. Maybe the frustration caused by the delay is part of what you see?

 

[mewmewmew13]

Yes, thanks RR for posting that article.

"we should go to the greatest lengths possible to find out the truth about whether athletes, especially high-profile role models like Armstrong, have cheated to earn their trophies and make their millions."

This will be interesting.

Lance should be very vocal now to make certain that he is 'vindicated'.

 

[Benotti69]

The USADA, WADA, or any other governing body isn't going to do the job some would like to see going forward because of lack of money and absolutely no political will.

One of the issues that encouraged the European authorities is the fact that the Feds brought to the table a decent budget to put into the investigation.

They took heart from this, and as the investigation progressed they uncovered much more than they hoped for. Once the US Feds shuttered the idea at what turned out to be almost the final hour, everyone on the other side of the pond threw up their hands in despair and are, one by one, giving up the ghost.

Suddenly the investigation coordinators that convened at Interpol are looking at the money spent so far and are refusing to allocate any more time and resources to what has been referred to as "some stupid old man and his bag of potions" (this is in reference to Dr. Ferrari by an understandably irate Italian prosecutor).

And they are extremely upset with the US Feds for encouraging the investigation and then dropping it, leaving some law-enforcement budgets in a bit of the red with nothing to show for the time and money invested. Expect cooperation going forward in other cases, regardless of import, to be strained.

The evidence/testimony taken from people like Hamilton, Landis, etc. was nothing but icing on the cake. They were just stories to solidify the truly disturbing aspects of what Dr. Ferrari was up to in cahoots with Armstrong and Bruyneel.

But the good doctor lawyered up as soon the Swiss accounts were frozen and the pressure has been relentless from his side, and he is not talking about anything to anyone.

With the budget woes the European community is experiencing, expect Dr. Ferrari to quietly settle out of court with a bit of a fine and nothing more.

I would hope that at the very least the Italians take the tax route against Ferarri and the Guardia di Finanzia get stuck into him, like they have done to Valentino Rossi, Davide Rebellin and of course Sophia Loren.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9SQ0VPG1&show_article=1

Lance Armstrong says he's relieved by the end of a nearly two-year federal investigation into doping allegations against him, and that he always remained confident he would not be charged.

"It's not a pleasant experience," Armstrong told The Associated Press by phone on Thursday in his first interview since prosecutors in Los Angeles closed their investigation last Friday.

"It was difficult at times," the seven-time Tour de France winner said. "But I was confident that we would always end up in this place."

And, for him, this is end of the doping questions. The federal government's decision should put a stop to any allegations or rumors about performance-enhancing drug use during his career, Armstrong said.

"It's over," he said. "I'm moving on."

The World Anti-Doping Agency this week urged U.S. federal authorities to quickly hand over evidence collected in the investigation that was aimed at whether the world's most famous cyclist and his teammates joining in a doping program during his run of Tour victories from 1999-2005.

"I don't want to get bogged down with that. I'm not concerned with that. I'm not going to worry about that," he said.

Armstrong, who has been known to attack his critics in the media and on Twitter, had only issued a muted written statement in response to the end of the investigation when the decision was first announced.

He was reluctant to talk much further about it on Thursday, but said he had a quiet celebration with his family when the investigation was closed.

I know that's exactly how I would have behaved if I was innocent

 

[Berzin]

I would hope that at the very least the Italians take the tax route against Ferarri and the Guradia di Finanzia get stuck into him, like they have done to Valentino Rossi, Davide Rebellin and of course Sophia Loren.

Not happening. They have been working on a settlement deal for some sort of fine and then the matter will be done.

 

[mewmewmew13]

"He was reluctant to talk much further about it on Thursday, but said he had a quiet celebration with his family when the investigation was closed."

Maybe planning a nice blowout at Cache-Cache next.

 

[Polish]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9SQ0VPG1&show_article=1


I know that's exactly how I would have behaved if I was innocent

Then at least you have one thing in common with Lance

Look, Lance has always been gracious when he wins. Understated.
Tenacious and lazer focus while competing, but gracious when he wins.
I feel sorry for you cynics sigh.

 

[MacRoadie]

I would hope that at the very least the Italians take the tax route against Ferarri and the Guardia di Finanzia get stuck into him, like they have done to Valentino Rossi, Davide Rebellin and of course Sophia Loren.

Seems to me they would at least pursue the one avenue most likely to recoup some of their expenditures....

 

[Benotti69]

Not happening. They have been working on a settlement deal for some sort of fine and then the matter will be done.

Typical.

i would have thought that because he would have been getting off other offences that they would have gone after the tax to the full.

Maybe he has 'trained' someone's son/daughter and it has to remain hush

 

[Berzin]

Seems to me they would at least pursue the one avenue most likely to recoup some of their expenditures....

The consensus, from what I've gathered, is the Italian judicial system isn't willing to deal any further with this. A well-heeled defendant can keep something like this in court for years, and they just don't have the resources to confront it.

The hope was to put enough pressure on him where he would settle and give evidence, but the pressure was based for the most part on the findings of the US Federal investigation, which doesn't seem likely to be shared with any overseas authorities.

The main stumbling block is they were not able to get any riders, either former or currently riding, to give evidence against him. Not one.

I can only pass on what I've been told. No one knows for sure what will transpire, but to me it doesn't look good.

 

[Anonymous]

Then at least you have one thing in common with Lance

Look, Lance has always been gracious when he wins. Understated.
Tenacious and lazer focus while competing, but gracious when he wins.
I feel sorry for you cynics sigh.

Duh, easy to be gracious when Lance wins a bike race and the millions of dollars that go along with it.

Hard to be gracious when Lance the innocent spends millions of dollars to "win" a doubious case closure along with the tarnish on Wonderboy's street cred. Lol.

Why isn't he screaming bloody murder? Sigh

 

[Oldman]

Not happening. They have been working on a settlement deal for some sort of fine and then the matter will be done.

Lance and Ferrari are not as sexy a couple as Amanda Knox and her beau. I wonder how much that debacle cost?

 

[Benotti69]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9SQ0VPG1&show_article=1

I know that's exactly how I would have behaved if I was innocent

Yaah sounds like the relief of dodging an atomic bomb