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Lance Armstrong's new legal team, led by John W. Keker of San Francisco, has filed a brief alleging the government has been leaking damaging information to "60 Minutes" and others about the former bicycling champion. The court papers filed in Los Angeles late last week cite especially the role of the government's investigator, Jeff Novitzky. The brief complaining about leaks from the federal grand jury here was apparently provided to Politico's Mike Allen.
The Armstrong motion says: “[T]he leading government advocate for the Armstrong investigation, Novitzky, was recently connected to an investigation riddled with leaks to the same reporters involved in this case, and has a documented history of over-reaching and disregarding individual’s [sic] privacy rights. …“A grand jury is not a vehicle to facilitate government-sponsored campaigns of character assassination. … Someone … with regular access to grand jury information is routinely flouting the law requiring grand jury secrecy. … Over the past year, purported details of a grand jury investigation relating to Armstrong and professional cycling races in Europe have been deliberately leaked to the media on dozens of occasions … The leaks have rendered what should have been a closed investigation into a field day for reporters with access to the leaks, and an easy forum for whoever seeks to damage Armstrong’s reputation. …
Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the U.S. attorney’s office, replied that “the government has received the motion filed late last week and the government will file its opposition brief consistent with the briefing schedule that will be set by the District Court. Therefore, we will not comment on the assertions made in the motion at this time.”