USADA will investigate

[Benotti69]

They are already trying the anti-hero approach. "In a sport where every winner is doped, Armstrong had PED's in his veins, a heart of gold and 7 TDF wins" It's like an awful film noir movie and those movies sell.

This is a coward's excuse. There were a number of riders who really, actually were 'only a rider' and tried to come clean anyway. Bassons (sp?) comes to mind. (I think that was his name) The infamous "zip it" moment where Armstrong chased down a rider mentioning doping. I don't remember his name. Both riders vanished from the sport for being honest.

No. There's no but anything. No excuse for that behavior. None. And now, like always, he's fishing for sympathy. This is the work of a child's mind.

The problem with giving an out is it enables the behavior. Condones it too.

I don't buy the degrees of evil argument either. It also super-charges the anti-hero/hooker with a heart of gold theme.

Christophe Bassons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christophe_Bassons

Filippo Simeoni

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Simeoni

 

[Colm.Murphy]

I am sure when @USADA forwards their decision, the Federal Authorities will read it and fully stand down. /rolls eyes.

 

[DirtyWorks]

USADA website confirms no such thing - which means:
Wonderboy had an inside tip off - from whom, one wonders? And doesn't that look somewhat, no wait, very smelly?

Pharmstrong has hired a guy to lobby his case in Congress. Given his previous star power, it wouldn't surprise me one bit that he has this information in advance of the media.

Money talks!

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Just thought of something.

Could this twitter comment mean he has been charged by USADA for a doping violation?

Official announcement of a notification? Could be.

Also, it is funny when you click through to @USADA, it's a Japanese account of some weird variety.

 

[Benotti69]

Just thought of something.

Could this twitter comment mean he has been charged by USADA for a doping violation?

Official announcement of a notification? Could be.

Also, it is funny when you click through to @USADA, it's a Japanese account of some weird variety.

Armstrongs Tweet: Great to hear that @usada is investigating some of @si's claims. I look forward to being vindicated.

Vindication = charged for a doping violation?

Not sure i follow?

 

[Kennf1]

I'm not so sure Travis Tygart is as firmly in Lance's corner as everyone thinks. Remember Landis's story about being offered a deal if he could produce evidence on Armstrong? Although USADA denied any offer had been made.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5...omplaining-about-USADAs-sweetheart-deals.aspx

 

[Epicycle]

USADA has been working with the Feds on this investigation though I don't know how much back and forth goes on, if any from the Federales side. In the BALCO case USADA was able to obtain grand jury testimony through the Senate Commerce Committee but the impending Athens Olympics helped facilitate that.

Tygart has the same kind of prosecutorial mentality as Novitzky so I'm sure USADA has been running their own parallel investigation all along. I have no doubt that eventually USADA is going to charge Lance with doping and Lance's future in the management side of the sport will be in jeopardy.

 

[mwbyrd]

Vindication = charged for a doping violation?

Not sure i follow?

And exactly how (and who) is USADA going to pay for such an investigation?

 

[Kennf1]

And exactly how (and who) is USADA going to pay for such an investigation?

By piggy-backing off of the Feds.

 

[Dallas_]

slam dunk

And exactly how (and who) is USADA going to pay for such an investigation?

What investigation! Novitzky will supply all the evidence needed on a platter. Just like Marion's sanction, this will be a slam dunk case

cheers

 

[goober]

What investigation! Novitzky will supply all the evidence needed on a platter. Just like Marion's sanction, this will be a slam dunk case

cheers

I am willing to put $$$$ on this one. Are you game?

 

[Topangarider]

Wiretap

Rupert Guinness wrote that Bill Stapleton arrived in Australia two days ago. Maybe he brought the news? I imagine they had a lot to talk about, and face to face is better than wiretapped phones.

Question for those with federal law enforcement expertise - what's the chance Lance's phones were tapped?

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Vindication = charged for a doping violation?

Not sure i follow?

I guess I should have qualified it this way:

Of all the possible ways he could be entangled, perhaps he believes a USADA doping arbitration would be the easiest forum for him to prevail.

I imagine he thinks the rules there give him the best chance to "beat a rap", and claim a vindication, considering the control he has from a UCI/USA Cycling view. To be "positive" there, in the strict sense, there are distinct rules.

For the Feds to show he "used drugs" in a criminal trial, they might not even need a positive test (by anti-doping standards), and the burden of proof in a civil proceeding is even lower.

So, in short, maybe he thinks this is the easiest path for him to make a claim for vindication?

 

[avanti]

...........Novitzky will supply all the evidence needed on a platter. ..............

This is a grand jury investigation - all Novitzky does is decide if there are grounds for a regular jury trial - I believe Novitzky can't be involved in a subsequent trial because he may have talked to witnesses on both sides of the case. If a trial occurs then the evidence must be collected again by the prosecution and defence teams. That is according to a neighbor who is a Assistant DA.

However if a person lies to the GJ then he is open to prosecution.

Incidentally I'm not sure anyone outside the grand jury knows what is really being investigated here.

 

[goober]

This is a grand jury investigation - all Novitzky does is decide if there are grounds for a regular jury trial - I believe Novitzky can't be involved in a subsequent trial because he may have talked to witnesses on both sides of the case. If a trial occurs then the evidence must be collected again by the prosecution and defence teams. That is according to a neighbor who is a Assistant DA.

However if a person lies to the GJ then he is open to prosecution.

Incidentally I'm not sure anyone outside the grand jury knows what is really being investigated here.

Correct for 100 points!

 

[mewmewmew13]

He seems strangely confident of being vindicated. I wonder why he doesn't feel similarly confident of being vindicated by the Federal investigation?

This was my thought too, 'strangely confident', but that is to be expected from Lance----that is, part of his arrogant reply M.O. It seems a little creepy that he is making this statement, as if he really knows something else that will come out in the media at some point.

Also, epicycle:
"Tygart has the same kind of prosecutorial mentality as Novitzky so I'm sure USADA has been running their own parallel investigation all along. I have no doubt that eventually USADA is going to charge Lance with doping and Lance's future in the management side of the sport will be in jeopardy."

I hope you know something the rest of us do not, as this is a fairly confident sounding statement. Seems like whenever it looks like a sure thing...LA does the impossible and slips out like teflon....so hope you're correct on that one!
cheers

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I agree with Avanti too. We've heard leaks, but I'm sure we're only looking at the tip of the iceberg.

I think why USADA has been quiet is to let the FDA do all the heavy lifting. After they present everything and USADA gets to sift through it, they'll likely move.

I've always got the impression Tygart is pretty unbiased.

Regarding that article Lance approves of, I love the way it levels accusations at Novitzky without any specifics, and just blasts the 9th Circut, and Obama administration. Hilarious.

 

[mewmewmew13]

I agree that we've heard 'leaks', but w/r to the GJ info, maybe just educated guesses. Where the GJ is concerned, it is my understanding that it would be highly unlikely ANYTHING would actually be leaked. Lance and his attourneys must be holding their breath way past the comfort level...

 

[Merckx index]

Of possible relevance to the Armstrong investigation is Novitzky's other big case:

The judge said prosecutors could call the athletes to testify about their relationships with Anderson, who supplied many of them with steroids and whom the government claims supplied Bonds with performance-enhancing drugs.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmpuZjjH60oLfiTZRUhMOiY5nYcB?slug=ap-bondssteroids

For those of you not familiar with the Bonds trial, Greg Anderson is a close associate of Bonds who almost certainly was a supplier. But rather than testify to this, he has gone to jail. (Does LA have friends like this? I doubt it).

Since the Feds have been unable to crack Anderson, they are taking this ploy in hopes that they can at least establish that he supplied other players with drugs. Seems to me this might be relevant to Ferrari. Simeoni, anyone?

 

[Dr. Maserati]

What investigation! Novitzky will supply all the evidence needed on a platter. Just like Marion's sanction, this will be a slam dunk case

cheers

Exactly.

Who was with Novitzky last November when he went to Europe and interpol?

According to the AFLD official, a meeting is scheduled this week. He indicated that Novitzky is in France, along with US federal prosecutor Doug Miller and US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart. “They are in France, that is for sure,” he stated.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Another way to look at this is the only thing holding Bonds up at this point is Greg Anderson. If they can solve that, they have Bonds nailed and he'll likely be prosecuted. Just that one link alone.

Does anyone think that the Novitzky, Miller and the others have less than this on Armstrong?

People think it takes a mound of hard evidence to indict, or even convict someone, until they actually study criminal law and find out that it frequently can be something as simple as one blood drop and an eye witness who has been proven guilty as well. The biggest evidence against Micheal Vick were his thug buddies pleading their cases down in return for testimony. This is something that happens all the time.

I suppose there's a chance that every single person who has testified to the GJ has said they know nothing, and saw nothing, leaving Landis accusations to stand alone. And that somehow, some way, all the paperwork, financial & tax records and lab results being combed over won't mount to anything or be considered solid enough. I just doubt it.

This is of course to indict Lance for criminal activity. As far as what USADA needs to prove he doped, that in theory should be a lot less.

 

[dbrower]

Correct for 100 points!

I don't think anyone but the prosecutor knows what is being investigated looking towards indictments. The Grand Jury knows what he wants them to know. (I've been on one).

-dB

 

[MacRoadie]

Correct for 100 points!

Incorrect! Zero points!

Jeff Novitsky is an agent with the USFDA. His job is to collect evidence (as a law enforcement officer would do), then present it to federal prosecutors. Prosecutors then present the case to a Grand Jury with the hope that indictments will be issued. FDA investigators:

Have the federal statutory authority and capabilities of a well-equipped federal law enforcement organization to obtain and execute arrest and search warrants, carry firearms, and gather evidence to enforce the United States criminal law.

Who are the OCI special agents?

Novitsky has zero to do with whether there will be a trial (other than the quality and extent of his investigation and subsequent evidence collection). He decides nothing. He's a cop. He can testify before the Grand Jury as well as any petit jury in a subsequent criminal or civil action. Cops interview witnesses on both sides of a case all day, every day. There is no priviledge when a witness is interviewed by an agent.

By the way, jeopardy doesn't attach to Grand Juries so even if indictments aren't handed down, criminal and civil charges can still be filed (although unlikely) and the whole shooting match can start all over again.

 

[theswordsman]

I tracked this down in an old post of mine about the meetings at Interpol. At the time, I was impressed that there was an FBI Special Agent along. Tygart is obviously in the know on most of it.

The meeting took place at the international police headquarters, Interpol in Lyon. It attended by representatives from France, Spain and Italy, countries where Armstrong lived or trained. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criminal investigator Jeff Novitzky led the US delegation. He travelled with US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, Assistant US attorney Doug Miller, his co-counsel Mark Williams and FBI special agent Olivier Faraole.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...-suggests-armstrong-doping-probe-serious.html

 

[Colm.Murphy]

On LA's twitter this appeared:



Anyone heard about this? And what are your opinions about this, if it does turn out to be true.
In my mind this can never be an independent investigation especially if you take all the history into account

The "@si" is incorrect as well.

The entire twit is incorrect. @usada, @si.... FAIL.