On Wednesday, a silent Lance Armstrong attended a key hearing of the federal lawsuit that could see him lose US$100 million with almost one third of the damages potentially going the whistleblower, former US Postal teammate Floyd Landis. During the hearing, US District Judge Christopher Cooper heard arguments from attorneys on both sides of the lawsuit.
The US Justice Department believes that Armstrong has defrauded the government, and should repay it for the final years in which the US Postal Service was the title sponsor of the team, between 2000 and 2004.
"Lance Armstrong created a flood of lies that saturated every invoice that was submitted," Cooper was told by U.S. Justice Department attorney Robert Chandler, according to USA Today. "He lied directly to the Postal Service. He had others lie directly to the Postal Service on his behalf. He made countless public statements on television and to print reporters.... false statements perpetuating his lie that he wasn't doping."
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Elliot Peters, Armstrong's attorney, is asking that the case be reduced or thrown out. Currently, no trial date has been set. Asked for comment by USA Today when leaving the courtroom, Armstrong declined.
Landis, whose testimony sparked the long-running case, did not attend the court but was represented by his attorney, Paul Scott. Landis filed the lawsuit in 2010 under the Federal False Claims Act, which allows citizens to sue on behalf of the US government if they believe that it has been defrauded. If the case is successful, the whistleblower can be awarded 30 per cent of any money awarded to the government. The case gained momentum after Armstrong admitted to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013, following the United States Anti-Doping Agency report into what they dubbed "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."
In the aftermath of his confession, Armstrong offered the government $5 million in an attempt to reduce the possible fallout. It was rejected and the US Justice Department joined Landis in February 2013, in an effort to recover sponsorship funding paid by the US Postal Service between 1996 and 2004. The federal government has argued that the team violated its sponsorship arrangement by extensive doping and that it was defrauded by Armstrong and the team.
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