Armstrong files lawsuit
LOS ANGELES — Lance Armstrong filed a federal lawsuit on Monday seeking to stop the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from proceeding with a hearing that could strip the champion cyclist of his seven Tour de France titles.
Armstrong and others have been charged by a USADA review board with participating in a years-long performance- enhancing conspiracy that fuelled Armstrong’s run of titles from 1999-2005.
Armstrong has professed his innocence, citing hundreds of clean drug tests throughout his career.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, claims USADA chief executive Travis Tygart has engaged in a vendetta against Armstrong and that the USADA violates athletes’ constitutional rights to a fair trial.
Saturday is the USADA’s deadline for Armstrong to decide whether to accept his penalty or to fight the allega- tions in an arbitration hearing that would likely occur in the fall.
The 111-page filing asks the federal court to issue an injunction by Saturday to would stop the USADA from continuing its case against the cyclist.
Armstrong’s attorneys also ask the federal court to declare that the USADA lacks jurisdiction and that his alleged transgressions exceed statute of limitations rules.
In the lawsuit, Arm- strong’s legal team revisited the cyclist’s claim Tygart and federal investigator Jeff Novitzky have pursued the cyclist with a “vendetta” that included evidence brought to a grand jury in Los Angeles that closed with no criminal charges.
“Defendants have relied upon information gathered improperly and coerced in concert with … Novitzky, who has been described by a variety of federal courts as having ‘callous disregard for the rights of third parties’ and engaging in ‘unreasonable’ tactics amounting to ‘harassment,’” Armstrong attorneys Tim Herman and Sean Breen wrote in the lawsuit.
“Defendant Tygart shares with agent Novitzky a well publicized obsession with ‘getting’ Mr. Armstrong,” according to the lawsuit. “Defendant Tygart evidently believes that USADA needs to bring a big case against a ‘big fish’ to justify its existence.”
Armstrong’s attorneys claim the USADA has cut “secret deals” with former Armstrong teammates to secure testimony against him in exchange for reduced penalties.