The fall of Lance Armstrong, Chapter II, took place on Tuesday.
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USA TODAY Sports reported that the 42-year-old Armstrong had to give video-recorded testimony about his doping history as part of a lawsuit that a sports insurance company brought against him.
SCA Promotions is suing Armstrong for fraud, saying it paid him bonuses from 2002-04 and now wants some $12 million returned to the company because of his confession to Oprah Winfrey during an interview in 2012 that he took performance enhancing drugs.
SCA Promotions attorney Jeffrey Tillotson originally interviewed Armstrong under oath in 2005 because the company thought Armstrong cheated to win those races. Armstrong retaliated by suing SCA Promotions, claiming breach of contract after the company refused to pay his bonus for winning the Tour de France.
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In that 2005 testimony, Armstrong said he "never" took performance-enhancing drugs, according to USA TODAY Sports. "How many times do I have to say it?" Armstrong asked Tillotson then. He also testified, "I race the bike straight up fair and square."
His false testimony forced SCA Promotions to pay him $7.5 million in a settlement with the company in 2006. That suit also had an agreed-upon stipulation that the case never could be reopened.
Armstrong's attorneys have argued that point in trying to block the current case from proceeding. They also have fought to keep Armstrong off the stand because the events in question took place some nine years earlier and beyond and they're worried about Armstrong perjuring himself. The faulty memories also could lead to inconsistent testimony that would weaken his defense with two fraud cases against him.
Both points have been to no avail.
The federal government also has a fraud lawsuit against Armstrong on June 23 but has said it would postpone depositions of Armstrong until the SCA Promotions suit runs its course.
In an earlier interview Tillotson said Armstrong's false testimony is too old for him to face perjury charges under the statute of limitations. But he added that SCA Promotions wants Armstrong sanctioned for lying by the same arbitration panel that handled the 2005 case.
"Our position is simple," Tillotson told USA TODAY Sports May 30. "No one should be able to relentlessly perjure themselves and get away with it."
The testimony that Armstrong is forced to give during the SCA Promotions trial will not be made available to the public.
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