Coming clean is trickier than you’d think. Investigators familiar with Armstrong’s case tell ABC News that he blatantly lied to Oprah in his epically long (but generally uninteresting) TV confessional last week. They say that as recently as 2009 his blood work showed “clear blood manipulation consistent with two transfusions,” even though when asked directly by Oprah if he had doped in 2009 Armstrong replied: “No, 2009 and 2010 absolutely not.” This was probably to protect himself against criminal charges, which the Justice Department seems unwilling to pursue, according to CNN. But the fact that he admitted to all the rest has already put him in hot legal water with a Texas company that says Armstrong owes it $12 million.
Insurer SCA Promotions is seeking the return of $12 million it paid Armstrong for winning a fourth, fifth, and sixth Tour de France titles, money it says was wrongfully paid out. “He’s now told us, at least though Oprah, that he lied when he told us he was a clean rider,” a lawyer for the company tells the BBC. “He doped during all those races, and [has been] stripped … of his official title status. So under those circumstances, my client naturally wants his money back.” At least Armstrong’s conscience is clean, now that his bank account’s about to get a whole lot lighter.
