SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 (Reuters) - Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has hired two prominent attorneys who won a legal case involving the lead investigator in a current federal probe of Armstrong.
San Francisco-based John Keker and Elliot Peters said on Thursday they were now representing Armstrong.
The attorneys won a major case for the Major League Baseball Players Association in 2009 when an appeals court panel ruled federal agents had no right to seize baseball’s anonymous drug-test results from 2003.
Jeff Novitzky had been a key investigator in that case, part of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative investigation.
Keker on Thursday accused Novitzky of leaking information that resulted in doping accusations against Armstrong, who has never failed a drugs test.
“We know Novitzky, and plan to prove that these are his repeated, illegal leaks aimed solely at destroying a true hero, not just in sports but in the fight against cancer,” Keker said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
“That the government is spending tax money investigating long ago bike races in Europe is an outrage.”
Armstrong has always denied taking banned substances but has repeatedly had to fend off accusations despite having never failed a drugs test.
His former teammate Tyler Hamilton told the U.S. television program “60 Minutes” on Sunday he had witnessed Armstrong inject himself with a blood-booster during the 1999 Tour de France won by Armstrong.
Disgraced 2006 Tour winner Floyd Landis has also accused Armstrong of cheating.
San Francisco-based John Keker and Elliot Peters said on Thursday they were now representing Armstrong.
The attorneys won a major case for the Major League Baseball Players Association in 2009 when an appeals court panel ruled federal agents had no right to seize baseball’s anonymous drug-test results from 2003.
Jeff Novitzky had been a key investigator in that case, part of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative investigation.
Keker on Thursday accused Novitzky of leaking information that resulted in doping accusations against Armstrong, who has never failed a drugs test.
“We know Novitzky, and plan to prove that these are his repeated, illegal leaks aimed solely at destroying a true hero, not just in sports but in the fight against cancer,” Keker said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
“That the government is spending tax money investigating long ago bike races in Europe is an outrage.”
Armstrong has always denied taking banned substances but has repeatedly had to fend off accusations despite having never failed a drugs test.
His former teammate Tyler Hamilton told the U.S. television program “60 Minutes” on Sunday he had witnessed Armstrong inject himself with a blood-booster during the 1999 Tour de France won by Armstrong.
Disgraced 2006 Tour winner Floyd Landis has also accused Armstrong of cheating.
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