World

AUSTIN, Texas - The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency lobbied Attorney General Eric Holder for the Justice Department to join a whistle-blower lawsuit against Lance Armstrong on the same day the cyclist confessed in an interview to performance-enhancing drug use.

Photo: Contributed

Attorney General Eric Holder

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart wrote Holder on Jan. 14, urging him to join the civil case and telling Holder that "fraud and other crimes were committed" by Armstrong and other members of his former U.S. Postal Service teams.

It was not clear if Holder responded, but the Justice Department has not yet announced it if will join the lawsuit filed by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis.

Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, accuses Armstrong of committing fraud against the Postal Service, which sponsored most of Armstrong's teams as the star rider used PEDs to win the Tour a record seven times.