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Justice Department lawyers urged a federal judge not to dismiss the government's fraud lawsuit against Lance Armstrong, arguing the US Postal Service was forever tainted by its sponsorship of his team while he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France.
The Postal Service, which insists it didn't know about a team drug regimen that was exposed last year by the US Anti-Doping Agency, is now permanently linked to what the government lawyers called "the greatest fraud in the history of professional sports" in court records filed Monday night.
Former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis' first sued Armstrong in 2010 under the False Claims Act, which allows whistle-blowers to get a share of any money recovered based on their disclosures.
The Justice Department joined the lawsuit in February, announcing it would seek at least the $40 million the Postal Service paid to Armstrong's team and additional damages that could push closer to $120 million.
The government claims Armstrong violated his contract with the Postal Service and was "unjustly enriched" while cheating to win the Tour de France. Six of his seven titles came under Postal Service sponsorship.
Armstrong has urged the court to dismiss the case, arguing the government was aware of doping rumours surrounding his teams and could have cancelled the contracts. Armstrong finally confessed in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey in January.
A federal judge has scheduled November 18 oral arguments in Washington on whether to let the case proceed.
Armstrong argues the sponsorship gave the Postal Service exactly what it paid for, tens of millions of dollars' worth of publicity, exposure to more than 30 million spectators at international cycling events and hundreds of hours of television coverage.
