Following these accusations, as of this writing, Lance Armstrong's attorneys are demanding an on-air apology from the popular CBS show. According to the June 1st espn.com article, ''Lance Armstrong wants on-air apology'', the demand came after ''the head of Switzerland's anti-doping laboratory denied allegations that [Armstrong] tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2001 Tour de Suisse.''
Elliott Peters, attorney for Armstrong was quoted as saying in a letter to CBS: ''In the cold light of morning your story was either extraordinarily shoddy, to the point of being reckless and unprofessional, or a vicious hit-and-run job. In either case, a categorical on-air apology is required.''
60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager was quoted as saying the network continues to believe its report to be ''truthful, accurate and fair.''
The background on the accusations made on the now infamous 60 minutes episode: according to Stuart Slotnick, a New York defense attorney who's conducted hundreds of grand jury investigations, from his quote in the denverpost.com article: ''Certainly (Hamilton's) statements on TV were not made under oath. It's a leap from what's in the public domain and what's in front of the grand jury. That certain testimony may not be allowed if a grand jury terms it to be too vague and unsubstantiated. It's not healthy if someone has vague and unsubstantiated claims. What may have been said was, 'Why were the substances you saw restricted to substances in the refrigerator?' 'Well, I saw a bottle and I recognized the size or shape of the bottle.' 'Well, what was particular about the bottle? Was there a label on it?'''
Armstrong holds seven Tour de France titles.
Despite what some might call an optimistic evaluation of the situation, Armstrong nonetheless added two attorneys to his legal team. According to the May 26th washingtonpost.com article, ''Lance Armstrong beefs up legal team after new doping allegations'', both John Keker and Elliot Peters join Armstrong's defense. Two years ago, they won an appeals case for Major League Baseball players; the ruling was that ''agents had no right to seize baseball's anonymous drug-testing results from 2003.''
Additionally, it was also reported on the television program that George Hincapie, another of Armstrong's former teammates, ''told federal authorities that he and Armstrong supplied each other with performance-enhancing drugs and discussed them.''
Even more critical for Armstrong than loss of reputation and wins is the possibility of a federal charge - for mail fraud or conspiracy. As Hamilton alleges, Armstrong had performance-enhancing drugs sent via Fed Ex to the team.
According to the denverpost.com article, Bill Taylor, a former federal prosecutor in Denver and an avid cyclist, was quoted as saying about mail fraud that ''It's the darling of a federal prosecutor. It's a safety net.''
That ''darling'' carries with it a 25 to 30 year sentence.
Working in Armstrong's favor is the fact that Hamilton has offered no physical evidence. Additionally, Taylor was quoted of saying about Hamilton that ''His reputation and credibility are already in tatters. The defense will have a field day.''
According to the May 26th washingtonpost.com article, ''Lance Armstrong beefs up legal team after new doping allegations'', Hamilton was quoted as saying Armstrong ''told him he had tested positive in 2001 during a race in Switzerland, but that Armstrong and his people ''made'' the test result ''go away.''
Jeff Novitzky is an agent for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and leads the investigation, which began last May, on performance enhancing drug use on Lance Armstrong's Tour de France teams. Jeff Novitzky's investigations into the use of steroids among professional sports' players have included high profile players Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, among others.
What's the motivation for Hamilton? In the video at cbsnews.com, Hamilton says: ''I know when people see this they're going to hate me. They're going to say, 'What's he doing?' I love the sport. I want to do what's best for the sport. I want to be involved in the sport for the rest of my life. For the short term future, maybe cycling is going to go through some turbulence, but I guarantee that in the long term people will come back and thank me for doing this.''
