The Going’s Getting Weird, Part 2

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

– Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

In today’s New York Times there’s an article about the Duke Lacrosse team and the rape case against three of the team’s members. Turns out, the prosecutor is dropping the charges, citing (among other reasons) the behavior of Mike Nifong, the original prosecutor handling the case. To hear the North Carolina attorney general tell it, Nifong sounds like a prosecutor drunk on his own power. For those of you following the Floyd Landis case, does this remind you of anyone? I’ll wait a moment, while you guess.

Were you thinking Travis Tygart, Matthew Barnett and the whole USADA legal team (both in-house and outside counsel)? Good job! If not, better luck next time. It’s hard not to see them as drunk on their own power, given the revelation in Bonnie DeSimone’s article on ESPN.com that they have requested a vast amount of information from Floyd Landis as part of the pre-hearing discovery process.

Information like Landis’ medical records and bills, going back to January 2005. Exactly what good is this information to prosecuting Landis for a doping allegation on one particular stage of the 2006 Tour de France? It’s well known that Landis had a hip problem which required surgery last September. And it was well known to the various anti-doping agencies that Landis had some medical issues, as Landis had a TUE that allowed the use of cortisone for his hip condition for several years. So how, exactly, would his medical records help the prosecution? They’re not going to try and show that the hip thing was just a charade, are they? Because I’m sure there’s a few physicians and surgeons who would beg to differ on that matter.

This seems an odd time to be looking at medical records, from a “searching for the truth and understanding all the facts” perspective. The right time would have been after the A sample results and before USADA decided to press ahead with an anti-doping case. But Tygart didn’t have the huevos to do what was really right back then. He just pushed ahead with the case, either for his own glory or to continue USADA’s win streak.

USADA also wants all of the comments Floyd made on various Internet boards. Well, there’s nothing preventing them from copying that information — it’s all out there. They just need to verify that the information they’re getting came from Landis’ own hand. This is a chilling development. The whole reason the Landis case is public is because some in the anti-doping community couldn’t keep their mouths shut. Once publicly accused, is it USADA’s position that he should have kept quiet and taken all the abuse being heaped upon his good name? What of a certain First Amendment, which guarantees the right of free speech?

And, as DeSimone reports:

In a letter dated April 3, attorney Matthew Barnett also asked for “documents submitted” by the Landis camp “to any government official in connection with Mr. Landis’ efforts to influence, pressure or coerce governmental officials to instigate investigations of USADA or otherwise interfere in this adjudication process.”

Let’s review a bit of our Constitution called the First Amendment. What does it say?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Now, USADA receives the bulk of its funding from Congress. Something like 70% or more of their operating budget. Well, if USADA wants to feed at the trough of public money, they’re going to have to get used to the idea that it comes with a few conditions. Like the occasional bit of oversight. We, the taxpaying public, have a right to know how our money is being spent. And we have the right to lobby our public officials for change if we disagree with public policy. That would be the “redress of grievances” portion of the First Amendment.

So if Floyd Landis, or any of his supporters, wishes to lobby Congress to make sure that the proceedings against him are handled in a fair manner, he has that right. Talking to Congress and lobbying for a fair process is in no way pressuring or coercing government officials to interfere with the proceedings — unless you call demanding that a quasi-judicial body obey its own rules, as well as normal judicial rules, “interfering.”

And what of wanting a list of donors who’ve given $250 or more (according to the LA Times) to the Floyd Fairness Fund? Exactly how does that apply to the anti-doping hearing? We’re free, in this country, to spend our money as we see fit. If I choose to give money to help Landis’ defense, exactly how is that USADA’s business? Are they looking to see who’s supporting Landis, with the intention of pursuing those individuals at a later date — whether by forcing them out of their positions, should they happen to be working in the anti-doping system, or by harrassing those individuals if they happen to be elite/professional (or former elite/professional) athletes? This is request is way over the top.

Bottom line, all of these requests are about one thing: Intimidation. None of this information looks to be of any real value to prosecuting the anti-doping case against Floyd Landis. Instead, it looks to be part of Tygart/USADA’s M.O. of pressuring Landis to give in and bleeding Landis of all his resources when he refuses to knuckle under.

And shame on them for doing so. This case shouldn’t be about winning at all cost, it should be about justice. But Tygart and his crew have made a complete and utter mockery of justice in the way they’ve handled the case up to now. And with these revelations, just how much they’ve done so is coming into public view.

I rather doubt that Landis will be intimidated by such tactics. I know I won’t stop speaking out — or donating to the Floyd Fairness Fund — just because of this kind of chicanery. Worse for them, I’ll be donating more. And if the arbitration panel caves on this request, Matthew Barnett and his henchmen can have fun trying to track down my name in the list of donors. With my next donation, I’ll be exceeding their threshold. And I would encourage everyone who is concerned about how Landis has been treated to donate to the best of their ability.

There is some good news in all of this. Given these kinds of desperation moves by USADA and their henchmen, it’s pretty clear that the Landis defense team has those evil little bastards (to quote Dr. Thompson a second time) on the run. Now’s the time to keep up the pressure and turn up the heat.