Armstrong resisted subpoena, then sought secrecy

Embattled former cycling great Lance Armstrong resisted turning over records sought by U.S. Postal Service investigators and then tried to keep the inquiry under seal and out of the public eye, according to recently released court documents. In 2011, Postal Service officials investigating Armstrong and his cycling teams because of doping allegations sought records from his team management groups, financial statements, training journals and correspondence with former training consultant Michele Ferrari. Armstrong eventually complied with the subpoena but as recently as October was still asking the courts to keep the inquiry private. “They’ve been given everything they wanted and that they asked for … months ago,” Armstrong attorney Tim Herman said Tuesday. The Postal Service was Armstrong’s main sponsor when he won the Tour de France from 1999 to 2004. The team was sponsored by the Discovery Channel for Armstrong’s seventh Tour victory in 2005. Armstrong, an Austin resident, was stripped of those titles this year. Last week, federal Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson in Washington ordered that the subpoena be released to the public. The judge rejected Armstrong’s arguments that releasing the subpoena would violate the secrecy of the grand jury process or a pending whistle-blower lawsuit filed against Armstrong by former teammate Floyd Landis. Armstrong was still the target of a federal criminal grand jury investigation into allegations of doping by the Postal Service teams when the subpoena was issued. That investigation was closed in February, and no charges were filed. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigated Armstrong for doping and in August ordered him stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. In October, the agency released a massive report detailing use of performance-enhancing drugs by Armstrong and his teammates. The report included sworn statements from 11 former teammates, including Landis. Armstrong denies doping and insists he never cheated, but he chose not to fight the USADA charges. USADA’s stand was upheld in October by the International Cycling Union, known by the French acronym UCI. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Armstrong had been given three weeks to appeal a decision by UCI to strip him of all the titles he’s won in the past 14 years. Armstrong, 41, has been officially informed that his results dating back to Aug. 1, 1998, have been nullified, the Lausanne, Switzerland-based UCI said. Backdated to Thursday, Armstrong has three weeks to appeal. The UCI decision came after USADA released a 202-page summary of its findings on Oct. 10, stating that Armstrong “engaged in serial cheating” throughout his career.

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Armstrong resisted subpoena, then sought secrecy