Armstrong doping suit: no winners

Signed, sealed and delivered: the United States Department of Justice joined a lawsuit last week on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service against former pro cyclist and Tour de France rider Lance Armstrong.

“Lance Armstrong and his cycling team took more than $30 million from the U.S. Postal Service based on their contractual promise to play fair and abide by the rules – including the rules against doping,” Ronald Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement.

The justice department joins a civil suit that former pro rider and Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis filed against Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, Tailwind Sports LLC and Tailwind Sports Corporation.

Filed under the U.S. government’s False Claims Act, the suit is potentially worth $90-million, plus civil penalties. That could wipe out the disgraced cyclist, whose personal wealth is estimated to be around $125 million.

The lawsuit is a direct result of the now infamous Doprah television episode, during which Armstrong admitted before millions of viewers on TV and online to talk show host Oprah Winfrey that he had used banned substances throughout his career.

Mary Anne Gibbons, the Postal Service general counsel and executive vice-president, said the postal service strongly supports the Department of Justice’s vigorous pursuit of the lawsuit. “The defendants agreed to play by the rules and not use performance enhancing drugs.

“We now know that the defendants failed to live up to their agreement and instead knowingly engaged in a pattern of activity that violated the rules of professional cycling and, therefore violated the terms of their contracts with the Postal Service.”

The suit is only one of several Armstrong now faces. Since the Oprah show, Armstrong has kept a low profile. His Twitter profile, from which at one point he tweeted a now infamous picture of himself surrounded by his framed yellow Tour de France jerseys and lounging in the basement of his Austin, Texas, home, has been silent.

The BBC reported that the Justice Department joined the lawsuit after Armstrong’s lawyers’ attempts to convince them otherwise failed. Armstrong’s legal team will now argue that the U.S. government knew or should have known that doping was taking place on the cycling team, did nothing to stop it, and should have filed a false claim against Armstrong and the team earlier.

Ironically, Landis – who had his 2006 Tour title removed after a positive test for drugs – may earn as much as 25 per cent of the recovered money from the lawsuit if it is successful. The False Claims Act contains a whistle blower provision, which not only permits private parties to sue on behalf of the U.S. government for false claims, but allows them to share in any recovery.

Frankly, it’s difficult to find any moral in this odious affair at this point. Certainly, the legal wrangling has only just begun in what is now one of the largest stories of deception, corruption and power in our time. Many now wish Armstrong would just fade away, but it’s clear from the ongoing legal maneuvering that the cyclist is determined to go down fighting. Even if Armstrong is found liable, Landis will profit handsomely, making a mockery out of the entire justice system. No one walks away a winner in a situation like this.