Saturday, January 05, 2013

Armstrong Might Confess to Doping

So?

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Lance Armstrong is reportedly considering a change in course, dropping his years of denials and admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported late Friday that Armstrong has told associates he is thinking about the move.

We know he did it. He knows he did it. He was punished for it. What possible use is there in him making some sort of public statement other than to feed his ego?

(9) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1511 hrs
Off-Duty

  1. Armstrong has been subpoenaed by the United States because of the USPS involvement in his team.  He is going to have to testify.  If he confesses, he will have perjured himself and admitted a whole bunch of criminal acts by him and others, and therefore he wants immunity in return for providing evidence against others.  On the other hand, he might be persuaded to keep his mouth shut if some former sponsors and the UCI agree to cut him a nice check.

    The USADA decision hit Armstrong where it hurt: his wallet.  He needs to get as much as he can for the only thing of value he has left: his testimony.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 05, 2013 at 1623 hrs


  2. Time for another book deal.

    Posted by Fuzz on January 06, 2013 at 0001 hrs


  3. It reminds me of this excellent line by Geoffrey (John Castle) from The Lion in Winter.

    Posted by hsgbdmama on January 06, 2013 at 1251 hrs


  4. BVB, if you ask the google you’ll find that the federal investigation was dropped. They invested millions and dropping it means they couldn’t come up with a good case that a crime had been committed. Perjury involves a set of specific conditions that allows many people to lie under oath and not face a very rare prosecution. He is not on the hook for perjury.

    There is some irony in the timing of this, during the nationwide celebration of steroid use that is the bowl season and the NFL playoffs. If Armstrong was in the NFL he’d be allowed to cop to adderol, get suspended for a few games and move on. And only if he was a current player, because the NFL doesn’t do retroactive witch hunts.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 07, 2013 at 1232 hrs


  5. That investigation was dropped prior to the USADA reasoned decision, Jim Jones, and also prior to resolution of the Landis whistleblower lawsuit.  Additionally the USADA decision regarding John Bruyneel is still unresolved.  The feds haven’t gone away.

    Note that the accusations involve multiple countries, some of which classify EPO trafficking as a crime. 

    Armstrong provided evidence to the Feds and others and now he’s running scared wondering what evidence others are providing.  Once the cases and investigations are resolved he has little leverage so he needs to play his cards now.

    No witch hunt is or has been undertaken against Armstrong.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 07, 2013 at 1326 hrs


  6. You do know that everything in the USADA report came from the federal investigation, right? And that USADA is not a law enforcement agency? And that EPO trafficking is a crime in *this* country. And that the feds concluded that they couldn’t establish that any crime had occurred?

    You do know that, right?

    Oh, and about Floyd Landis. Sheesh. If you are going to grasp at straws Floyd Landis is the lamest straw there is.

    Sheesh.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 07, 2013 at 2107 hrs


  7. None of the evidence from the USADA reasoned decision is from the Federal investigation, Jim Jones.  You’d know that if you read the report and followed the case.

    Lance Armstrong is not the only individual implicated in the USADA report.  Others, both foreign and domestic are involved.

    Floyd Landis has a whistleblower lawsuit bending and the Feds are contemplating joining it.

    The feds haven’t gone away.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 07, 2013 at 2205 hrs


  8. Dude, the Feds made a public announcement that they were turning over their findings on the case. I’m not going to argue that any more than I’m going to argue whether the sun rises in the east.

    USADA does not have law enforcement authority. They can’t issue subpoenas, they can’t compel testimony. 100% of the cases that go before them involve athletes that lie about drug use. But no one gets hit with perjury, because they’re not the feds and they’re not cops. They don’t do investigations.

    When you read the report it is obvious that it came from the source that was quite publicly announced. USADA is not authorized to gather that kind of testimony.

    See, this is a great example of a situation where further discussion should be cut off.  BVB should be saving this sort of mojo for a global warming denial thread.

    You get the last word. Don’t get your hopes up on Floyd.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 08, 2013 at 1230 hrs


  9. Since you haven’t and won’t read the report Jim Jones, I’ll give you the relevant passage:

    “None of the evidence USADA summarizes in this Reasoned Decision was obtained from the United States federal law enforcement investigation involving Mr. Armstrong. After the
    announcement by U.S. District Attorney Andre Birotte on February 3, 2012, that he was discontinuing the criminal investigation of Armstrong’s conduct, USADA formally requested
    copies of non-grand jury evidence from the case, However, no documents have been received to date. As a result, none of the evidence assembled by USADA has come from federal law
    enforcement.”

    The USADA didn’t have to subpoena anyone, the testimony they gathered was voluntarily submitted.  They have all the authority in the world to gather voluntary testimony.  They do indeed do investigations for the purposes of enforcing their code.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 08, 2013 at 1300 hrs


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