As lawsuit looms USADA grant Armstrong extension

WASHINGTON (AFP) –

Banned US cyclist Lance Armstrong is shown in Austin, Texas on October 21, 2012. US Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart says Armstrong wants to help clean up cycling, and the agency has extended its deadline for the confessed cheat to cooperate to do so.

Lance Armstrong, facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit and reportedly the subject of a new criminal probe, has been given a bit of breathing room from the US Anti-Doping Agency.

USADA gave him two more weeks to cooperate with anti-doping authorities by testifying under oath, now that the banned US cyclist has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.

Dallas insurance company SCA Promotions said it would file a $12 million lawsuit against Armstrong over bonuses it paid to him for multiple Tour de France victories.

Graphic chronology of the US Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) allegations against Lance Armstrong. USADA gave the disgraced US cyclist two more weeks to cooperate with anti-doping authorities.

The company had asked Armstrong to repay the money after he was stripped last year of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned for life after USADA found him to be the key figure in a sophisticated doping scheme on his US Postal Service teams.

“I can now confirm that we are filing tomorrow (Thursday),” SCA attorney Jeff Dorough told AFP on Wednesday. “We think there are several avenues for us to seek recovery on this.”

Armstrong sued SCA and won after the company delayed his 2005 bonus payment because of reports in Europe that the American used performance-enhancing drugs.

“Armstrong and his lawyers said flat-out at that time that if he was ever stripped of the titles they would pay the money back,” Dorough said. “We’re just seeking to hold them to their promises.”

That might not be the only legal battle looming for Armstrong now that he has admitted via a confessioal TV interview with Oprah Winfrey that he did dope during all seven of his Tour de France triumphs.

ABC News reported Wednesday that federal agents are investigating Armstrong for crimes including obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation.

Citing an anonymous source, ABC News said the current probe is focused on different charges from those previously investigated in a federal probe that was dropped last year.

Lance Armstrong was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on January 17, 2013, during which he admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs. After Armstrong finally came clean, USADA chief Travis Tygart had initially given him until Wednesday to cooperate with anti-doping authorities.

US Attorney Andre Birotte, who led the prior investigation, said he had no current plans to press charges despite Armstrong’s recent doping admissions, although that could change.

Birotte’s investigation was centered on doping, fraud, conspiracy and Armstrong’s denials of such crimes when he was the lead rider at US Postal.

The ABC News source, quoted on condition of anonymity, said: “Birotte does not speak for the federal government as a whole. Agents are actively investigating Armstrong for obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation.”

USA Today reported Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration was investigating Armstrong.

FDA special agent Jeff Novitzy once played a key role in the BALCO steroid distribution probe and worked to build a case against Armstrong before the government declined to file charges in February of 2012.

FDA spokeswoman Sarah Clark-Lynn told AFP on Wednesday, however, that the FDA “is not currently investigating on Lance Armstrong.”

Former teammate Tyler Hamilton opened the door to possible witness tampering charges against Armstrong when he described a confrontation with Armstrong at a bar in Colorado in 2011 — when Hamilton was a witness in the then on-going federal probe.

“The biggest thing he said is: ‘You know, we’re going to make your life a living, f-ing hell, both in the courtroom and out,’” Hamilton recalled Armstrong saying.

Photo illustration of competitors taking part in the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong admitted last month in a televised interview to using banned drugs during all of his record seven Tour de France triumphs.

After the government probe of Armstrong ended without charges in 2012, USADA continued its own investigation, using the testimony of former teammates to build a devastating case against him.

After Armstrong finally came clean last month, USADA chief Travis Tygart had given him until Wednesday to cooperate with anti-doping authorities by testifying under oath about his activities.

Armstrong had said he couldn’t meet that deadline, and his attorney Tim Herman told USA Today that Armstrong thought the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were better suited to battle doping in the sport.

However, on Wednesday night it became clear that Armstrong was dealing with USADA when Tygart said he had granted Armstrong a two-week extension to cooperate.

“We have been in communication with Mr. Armstrong and his representatives and we understand that he does want to be part of the solution and assist in the effort to clean up the sport of cycling,” Tygart said in a statement.

“We have agreed to his request for an additional two weeks to work on details to hopefully allow for this to happen.”