Landis Statement from Press Conference

Below is the official text of the Landis statement from the May 10 press conference, reformatted.

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Floyd Landis Remarks - May 10, 2007 News Conference

Los Angeles, May 11, 2007 – I look forward to next week’s hearings. They will be the first opportunity for me to present the full and overwhelming evidence that I won the 2006 Tour de France fair and square. I want to encourage everyone with an interest in sports to follow their progress.

From the very beginning, it has been evident that the WADA/USADA system is set up in a way that it is impossible for an athlete to get a fair hearing. Because of this, there is more importance to these proceedings than a chance to begin the right a wrong being done to me. They represent an important test to see if the anti-doping system can begin to change for the good of sport and the sake of justice and fairness.

We have asked for my hearings to be public because I have nothing to hide and because common sense, facts and science overwhelmingly demonstrate the fact that I didn’t dope at the Tour. Our entire Wiki defense has been based on the same idea. Through our efforts, many more people are now aware that an anti-doping system that should be a force for good and for positive change is in fact incompetent, corrupt and damaging to athletes and all those who should be inspired by sports. Hopefully this hearing will be the first time that the burden of proof is shifted from the athletes themselves back to the lab and to the WADA/USADA system so that they can explain the flaws in scientific process, analysis and outcome.

Along with their public demonstrations of unethical conduct – including trying to convict me in the media before letting me know anything about the charges against me – USADA let me know privately very early on that this was not a search for the truth, but an unchecked prosecution. It was offered to me at the beginning of this process that if I give up information on a cyclist more important than Me – and I can only infer that would be Lance Armstrong – that I would receive the shortest suspension ever given to an athlete. I find this offensive and wrong on many levels, especially given that I didn’t do what they’ve accused me of doing. There is something behind this over and above trying to enforce ethics in sports.

I couldn’t fight this fight without the support of my friends and fans. Many fans have been asking how I am and how I’ve been dealing with all of this. Obviously this has been painful and difficult for me, and especially my family, and I look forward to some kind of conclusion. Whatever the outcome, though, I’m proud of what I did. I go into these hearings feeling like a winner because I know I won the Tour clean, and one way or another will continue making progress in my fight for justice, no matter how long it takes. I look back at the 10 months since we began my public defense and see the actions of the LNDD, WADA, USADA and the panel’s rulings to date consistently confirming every single key point we have been making since launching our Wiki defense.

1. The LNDD is corrupt and incompetent


2. The WADA/USADA system is an insult to the principles of democratic justice and operates without any oversight whatsoever, and


3. An accused athlete has very little chance of a fair defense.

Thanks to the public nature of these hearings, the sports world will be watching, the taxpayers and legislators that fund USADA will be watching, and the Panel’s colleagues in the legal and arbitration profession will be looking to see their commitment to handing down a fair decision based on the facts and on the science as provided by both sides, all of which demonstrates that I won the Tour fairly. In doing so, they will make a decision that stands the test of time and history by helping change the system for the good of all athletes who have to go through this in the future.

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Deleted/Tampered files at LNDD

Team Landis sent the following release late this afternoon...

CRITICAL LANDIS STAGE 17 EVIDENCE ERASED
FROM HARD DRIVE AT LNDD,
ORIGINAL DATA DESTROYED
Landis Examines Legal Options, Including
Appeal to Department of Justice

New York / Paris., April 29, 2007 – Simon Davis, technical director of Mass Spec Solutions and expert consultant to Floyd Landis, today reported that critical evidence stored as electronic data files (EDF) had been erased from the hard drive and the original data destroyed at the Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage (LNDD). The existing data bears indication of alteration.



The EDFs are electronically preserved records of the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry (IRMS) tests conducted on Landis’ Stage 17 samples. Davis was at the LNDD last Thursday along with representatives from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to witness the extraction of the data files by an independent expert tasked with retrieving and analyzing the EDFs.

Originally run by the LNDD on outdated OS2 software, the Landis defense team had first requested access to the original EDFs last December in order to process them on more modern and accurate software.

Prior to the arrival of Davis and the independent expert on April 26, the LNDD, under the authority of USADA, extracted the EDFs from the machinery. The LNDD took the following steps in the absence of oversight by the independent expert or Davis:

• The hard drive from the Isoprime OS2 machine had been “wiped” by the LNDD and all of the original files destroyed, thereby providing no way to verify the authenticity of the EDFs from Landis’ Stage 17 analysis.

• Relevant files for Landis’ Stage 17 sample analysis had been opened and re-saved by the LNDD, corrupting the integrity of the files’ time stamp authentication and exposing the files to potential tampering. The data concerning the Stage 17 “A” samples were re-saved on 1/30/2007. Landis’ “B” sample data bore a time stamp of 4/26/07, 9:51 a.m. CET, prior to the scheduled arrival of the independent expert and Davis later that day.

• The altered EDFs from the Isoprime OS2 hard drive had been removed by the LNDD and transferred to a CD-ROM.

• Other critical data from Stage 17 were missing from the files copied to disk.
  

“Protecting and assuring electronic files are required by every certifying laboratory authority, as the International Standards of Laboratories clearly define,” said Arnie Baker, M.D., scientific advisor to Landis’ defense team. “With the erasure of original evidence contained on the hard drive, the lab simply cannot document its findings.”

In light of recent events at the LNDD, including the exclusion of Landis’ experts during the recent re-testing of previously cleared samples and the destruction of critical computer files, Floyd Landis is considering an appeal to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the use of Federal funds in the adjudication of his anti-doping proceedings.

"Since the Federal Government is funding this and other proceedings at USADA, it makes sense for them to be responsible for it," Landis said. "Over the past few months, we have learned of disturbing facts regarding the protection and production of key evidence in my case and I hope to call on the DOJ to investigate the handling of this matter. I have every confidence that they can determine if any misuse of federal funds and any resulting criminal activity has taken place on the part of USADA in my case."

"I find it highly suspicious that of all the files on the LNDD computer equipment, only the data relating to my alleged positive shows signs of potential tampering," Landis added. "It is my impression that USADA's goal is to secure a conviction by any means available whereas the DOJ will be more determined to arrive at the truth."

Landis is also examining a request for the Justice Department to review whether USADA has violated criminal statutes in using Federal funds in relation to the conduct that has occurred in this case. "Make no mistake about it; I support tough anti-doping measures, enforcement and education. But, if the Federal Government is going to fund the adjudication of anti-doping actions, then the defendants in those cases should be afforded the due process protections of anyone accused of a crime in America. No more and certainly no less," Landis said. "Under the USADA process, I have repeatedly been denied critical evidence, I have been denied the opportunity to depose critical witnesses and I have been denied a jury of my peers. Everything they have done, including this continued denial of discovery, the retesting of already cleared samples and the subsequent leak of scientifically unsupported results to L’Equipe, simply reconfirms every contention that my team and I have been making about USADA’s ‘win at all costs’ mentality. Their behavior is nothing short of criminal."

end of Press Release.

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Landis Comments from Phone Press Conference

As passed on by Henson:

I want to begin by saying that I won the Tour Fair and Square.

Although I'm disappointed by yet another breach of athlete confidentiality,
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I'm not surprised to hear of a leak of unsubstantiated test results to
L'Equipe. This is just another example of the anti-doping authorities acting
in complete and total disregard of athletes' rights. In fact, this leak
affirms the total lack of ethics within the ant-doping world, specifically
with regard to the LNDD and USADA. Much like the recent Ian Thorpe case,
this represents a massive failure on the part of WADA to manage the critical
fight against doping. In any other industry or field, their failures would
be construed as criminal negligence.

We have seen no scientifically valid data emerge from the LNDD. The reports
from our observers ­ when they were'¹t severely restricted by USADA and the
LNDD ­ strengthens our arguments against the Stage 17 testing. Moreover, new
egregious issues have been revealed that will come to light in due course.

Considering the history of gross negligence and scientific malfeasance at
the lab, it is amazing to me that the behavior of USADA and LNDD in
preventing our expert witnesses from attending this illegal re-testing ­
and commencing the retesting without an independent panel appointed expert
present ­ could be considered fair or unbiased. Based on this behavior, we
are looking at potentially deliberate falsification of results and the
willful destruction of evidence.

As before, I have again been thrust into a position where I must answer for
the specious results issued by lab that we have contended for months should
have been suspended by WADA. I invite the media to ask Mr. Bordry of the
AFLD if any of the issues in the lab that we have pointed out over the past
nine months have been addressed or corrected. I would suspect that the
answer is "no."

Per Pat McQuaid, and relative to the case of testing Lance Armstrong's "B"
samples from the 1999 Tour de France, the UCI defended Armstrong¹s position
against the LNDD and WADA due to the complete lack of safeguards in the
testing process. Now, based on reactions to the latest developments in my
case, we will know if this represents a UCI cover up at the highest level or
a search for truth.


end of statement from Landis.

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A Communique from Chairman Rafferty

Sent to the FFF mailing list:

Dear FFF Supporter,

USADA’s counsel recently requested our donor records, along with several other astonishing demands of Floyd (to read these demands for yourself, visit pages 3 - 12 of the attached file). Of course, we have no intention of providing them any private information. Fortunately for those of us who are not subject to WADA/USADA abuses, Americans are protected from these kinds of intrusions and threats. This, and a number of other basic democratic principles, seems to be lost on USADA, an agency funded by American taxpayer dollars.

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USADA’s recent outrages -- including illegally retesting Floyd’s already cleared B samples in France instead of at the world-class UCLA anti-doping lab -- highlight their total lack of interest in the truth or in advancing justice. It also reminds the entire FFF team of our gratitude for your support. We simply could not conduct this expanding fight for justice without you. Over $500,000 has been raised for Floyd’s defense, and our communications and lobbying efforts have succeeded in reversing public and policymaker opinion regarding Floyd’s victory in the 2006 Tour de France.

Floyd needs your help again before the hearings begin May 14: It is critical that you contact your Congressional Representatives and/or key Members (to access the list, visit pages 13 - 14 of the attached file). This is urgent because the system employed by USADA is so biased against the athlete that any and all steps need to be taken to level the playing field before Floyd’s May 14 hearings. USADA has never lost an arbitration hearing. Their record is 167-0. Common sense and American justice tell us that not every single accused athlete can be guilty, but these apparently don’t concern USADA in their quest for government funding. If Congressional scrutiny puts their funding at risk, they just may begin to attend to the principles that inform the government that funds them.

There are specific Congressional communications guidelines in the “Get Involved” section of our web site (www.floydfairnessfund.org), but in essence, we request that you ask Congress to contact USADA to let them know that US taxpayers expect fair treatment for Floyd. We’ve also attached the contact details for USADA and their legal counsel in case you wish to let them know your thoughts regarding their attempts to intrude into your privacy and to intimidate a group exercising their democratic right to advocate for fairness and justice in athletic anti-doping efforts.

Floyd’s legal and scientific team has prepared an exceptionally strong case proving that his Stage 17 tests were never positive in the first place. You will be able to follow the case in detail as our request for an open hearing was granted and each day of the two week hearing will be covered by print and broadcast media. Our “Wiki Defense” has been based on the principle that Floyd has nothing to hide and that transparency assists us both to counteract the appalling show trial media convictions handed down by WADA and the cycling “leadership,” and to pressure USADA to focus on the facts and science of Floyd’s faulty test, not on extending their appalling 167-0 conviction rate. Your letters, calls and emails can help advance our efforts significantly.

I’ve had the chance to meet many of your at our FFF Town Halls, but would like to extend my personal thanks once again for your help and support for Floyd and the cause of fair and effective anti-doping in sport. Like several of our Team Wiki members, I am working pro bono for this cause, my family and I have also committed tens of thousands of dollars to the FFF. I have no doubt we have set in motion steps to improve the ineffective and deeply conflicted anti-doping system in sport, but Floyd stands at the front of this fight and has sacrificed greatly for what he knows is right. For the sake of justice, we should take every step possible to reverse the slander and injury WADA/USADA have directed at Floyd – a letter, email or call to the persons on the attached list will help greatly in this regard.

With my personal thanks and best wishes,

Brian Rafferty
Chairman
Floyd Fairness Fund

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FFF Radio Spot

The FFF is about to start running this radio spot in various markets. USADA probably isn't going to appreciate it.

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Landis Response to USADA Document Request

Received from the FFF, answering the USADA Document request of April 3rd.

USADA ATTORNEYS REQUEST CONFIDENTIAL, INAPROPRIATE AND IRRELEVANT DATA FROM FLOYD LANDIS

USADA Continues to Deny Landis Access to Key Witnesses and Information

New York, April 11, 2007 – The attorneys for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last week made a discovery request of Floyd Landis and his defense team which further highlights their disrespect for Mr. Landis’ civil rights and those of his supporters. The request, designed to further burden Mr. Landis’ defense against unsubstantiated doping allegations, highlights USADA’s role as an unchecked prosecutor relentlessly working to limit the defendants ability to exercise his right to equal protection under the law. The letter (attached) is another example of USADA’s disregard for their fundamental charter and athletes’ due process rights.

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Sent via email from USADA’s outside counsel, the letter asks that Mr. Landis produce documents that are irrelevant to the material aspects of the case and, in some cases, are a direct assault on his civil liberties, HIPPA regulations and to the rights that govern legal proceedings taking place in democratic societies. The letter also explicitly asks for Mr. Landis’ attorneys to reveal additional defense strategies to opposing counsel.

Further advancing their position that Landis should not have access to the resources to defend himself against a taxpayer-funded agency, USADA also takes particular objection to the fundraising and political efforts of the Floyd Fairness Fund (FFF). The letter claims that Mr. Landis and the FFF are working to “coerce” those elected officials who have entrusted USADA with taxpayer dollars. It characterizes the FFF’s effort to encourage a more fair, effective and efficient anti-doping agency as interfering with the adjudication process while at the same time infringing upon Landis’ First Amendment right to petition the government.

Floyd Landis said, “In light of the fact that USADA won’t produce critical information or allow me to depose or call key witnesses in person that will help me get a fair and unbiased hearing in May, it’s outrageous that they would send a letter to my lawyers asking for things like receipts for medical visits, complete donor-records from the Floyd Fairness Fund and a history of all of the posts that I made on the Internet. That’s just harassment, and the last time I checked, it would constitute an invasion of my privacy and of the privacy of everyone who wants to see this hearing conducted in accordance with the principles of fairness and justice.”

“USADA clearly thinks that they’re above the law – and that’s precisely why we’ve been asking our elected representatives to look into USADA’s unfair and un-American tactics. The Senators and Congressmen that I have met with have expressed their support for our cause and applauded our efforts to bring USADA’s abuses to their attention. To call my conversations with our lawmakers “coercion” is an insult to them and to the foundational principles of American democracy.”

End of statement from the FFF.

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Landis Statement on B Sample Testing

Received from the FFF today:

USADA DENIES LANDIS REQUEST THAT Sample RETesting Take Place at UCLA Olympic Laboratory, LANDIS To SEEK Split of Remaining “B” Samples

USADA Insists on Retesting Negative Tour de France Samples In France, Violating Wada Code

New York / Murietta, Ca., April 12, 2007 – Responding to an unprecedented request late last year by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the Laboratoire National Depistage de Dopage (LNDD) has agreed to test Floyd Landis’ already cleared samples from the 2006 Tour de France. The retesting is scheduled to commence on April 16, less than four weeks from the May 14 hearing date.

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Considering the history of grave testing errors committed by the LNDD, Landis has asked that USADA move the testing venue to the world-class facility at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a request rejected by USADA. Given USADA’s position that the retesting take place at the LNDD, Landis will ask for a split of all of the samples that are scheduled for testing at the LNDD for independent analysis in a neutral and uncompromised facility.

The original request for retesting came from USADA general counsel Travis Tygart and proposed further testing of the “B” portion of cleared “A” samples at the LNDD in Chatenay-Malabry rather than at the WADA accredited lab contracted by USADA at UCLA. Additionally, USADA has taken the unusual step of transferring Landis’ out-of-competition samples from UCLA to the LNDD laboratory.

USADA’s highly irregular actions constitute an effort to further burden Landis’ defense team with additional costs and distraction, as well as produce lab results which could only prove confusing and contradictory at best.

Landis: “Test the Samples at UCLA”

“Putting aside the fact that the retesting shows just how far USADA will go in breaking its own rules to support it’s ‘win at all costs’ mentality, I’m amazed that they insist on having the LNDD test these samples. Judging by their actions, USADA is on a fishing expedition, trying to elicit a result that confuses the clear scientific evidence that refutes the allegations against me by having these samples tested at a compromised and conflicted lab.”

“The UCLA lab is widely regarded as the best in the world and I have full confidence that if these samples were tested there that they would come back negative, as would have my Stage 17 test from the Tour de France. This is why I’ve requested that they test the samples at UCLA, a request that USADA has repeatedly denied.”

USADA Disregards the Rights of Athletes

By authorizing testing on “B” samples, USADA is undermining the “A” and “B” sample system that, according to the WADA Code, was designed to safeguard the rights of athletes against repeated errors in testing outcome and analysis. In pursuing a course of retesting, USADA is demonstrating its willingness to deny athletes’ basic due process rights by violating both WADA regulations and International Standards. By violating the established procedures and rules of evidence, USADA is making an attempt to obfuscate, rather than find, truth. This attempt will cause the Landis team to expend unnecessary resources to monitor a clearly prohibited activity – resources that have already been unduly and unfairly stretched by USADA’s unethical approach to their pursuit of unsubstantiated allegations against Landis.

Given USADA's consistent defiance in providing relevant discovery documentation despite the Arbitration Panel's order to do so, Landis' defense team has no expectation it would receive appropriate documentation from any proposed retesting with reasonable time to review the analysis in advance of the hearing scheduled for May 14.

LNDD Knows Samples Belong to Landis

Athlete confidentiality is essential to the integrity of the testing process. In asking the LNDD to retest “B” samples, USADA does so with full knowledge that the LNDD knows the samples belong to Landis. The sample retesting at the LNDD will be conducted:

• with total disregard to the core principle of sample blinding;
• will take place at a laboratory with a documented history of ignorance to the scientific rules and protocols designed to protect athletes;
• with full awareness of USADA’s desire to obtain a positive result from additional specimens;
• and with knowledge that a second positive result would validate their own flawed results from Landis’ stage 17 sample.

Landis: “Preserve My Rights. Split The Samples”

“I continue to be very concerned about how my Tour de France samples have been handled by the LNDD over the past six months. They got it wrong once, now they have seven opportunities to get it wrong again. If USADA refuses to test the samples at their own laboratory at UCLA, then in order to protect my rights and to preserve evidence that may be valuable to my defense – evidence that USADA is willing to destroy in order to attain a result that they desire – I will request half of the samples so that we can have them tested in a lab that is beyond reproach. The results will show that I won the Tour de France fair and square.”

End of statement from the FFF

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