The news on the Lance Armstrong fraud investigation has been non-existent lately. However, some news came out today that Lance has hired a big gun to help him with public relations and legal defense. His new special counsel and media expert is Mark Fabiani. Apparently, Fabiani worked for Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation and more recently helped Goldman Sachs keep their image intact while they were being investigated for fraud by the SEC. This guy must be pricey! I take it Lance is nervous about this investigation.
Also, the same article said that George Hincapie also hired a big NY law firm. This news broke about the same time that George crashed out of the Tour of Utah and needed 18 stitches. It seems to me that Lance and George have had more accidents since Floyd Landis alleged they cheated for years. Sorry to hear about it George.
As for improving Lance's image, Fabiani got right to work and continued the same old story: Floyd has no credibility (see this link for more on that) and investigating athletes for doping is a waste of taxpayer money. Nothing new here. I hope Lance gets his money's worth from this guy.
As for a waste of money, I personally think paying a media expert to make you look better is money that could have been better used. Image is everything to fraudsters. Con men build confidence in themselves. Smooth talkers with little or no character...
In the end, I doubt the government will get a verdict against Lance and I doubt Fabiani will keep the majority of the public from believing Lance is a fraud. It reminds me of the OJ Simpson case. He was never convicted criminally for murder but if you think he's innocent then I'm sure there is a nice Ponzi scheme waiting to get your money.
Mark- Great post. Glad I found your blog. I agree with you. I was recently directed to a GQ magazine article that was very entertaining: http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201008/andrew-corsello-on-lance-armstrong-doping-controversy Hope you are well. I'm in a big trial right now, but look forward to racing with you in the future. Take care. -David Francis
ReplyDeleteIt's just pathetic that so much time and money HAS to be wasted on the 'innocent until proven guilty' which really turns into 'guilty until proven innocent.' Many good people wrongfully have their names trashed and have to waste their money trying to recover in order to provide for their families. Sure wish the juducial system could do something about that.
ReplyDeleteTina, I agree that our judicial system has some potential to wrongfully harass the innocent. However, if the Grand Jury does its job then the case won't move forward without some persuasive evidence that Lance is probably guilty.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, perhaps we'll see the word "is" finally defined.
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