A new article in the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Lance Armstrong’s team hired a lobbyist in part to look into Jeff Novitsky at the time he was investigating Lance. While looking to clear his name he was also looking to see what he could find out about the investigator.
It doesn’t seem to have made any difference in the outcome. The Ben Barnes Group was hired in July 2010. They only worked for him for 3 months and stopped when they “decided a full scale lobbying effort wouldn’t have worked. There was no congressional path forward.”
The Barnes Group said nothing was actually done. “No congressman in his or her right mind would try to interfere with a criminal investigation.”
Their role was supposed to monitor the allegations of doping by athletes. They were paid $50,000.
Apparently it’s not illegal to hire a lobbying firm as per the Lobbying Disclosure Act. The companies just have to report the reason and the fees.
