Lawyers press IRS agent Novitzky in Tammy Thomas trial

So you can lie to investigators if there exists other evidence, right?

So the government should not concern itself with the integrity of professional sports?

Those are the hind-sight arguments of Tammy Thomas's legal team in the BALCO-perjury trial ongoing in San Francisco.  The San Jose Mercury-News and the New York Daily News cover the case.

Internal Revenue Service agent Jeff Novitzky, for the past five years on the hunt for steroids in sports, faced his first hostile questioning for his role in BALCO as he testified in the perjury trial of former world-class cyclist Tammy Thomas. Novitzky has put the squeeze on superstars ranging from former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds to Olympic track and field star Marion Jones, but he spent the second day of his testimony in Thomas' trial fending off suggestions that he abused his power as a criminal investigator to clean up doping in sports.

Ethan Balogh, Thomas' lawyer, cross-examined Novitzky on whether he improperly transformed his investigation into BALCO's steroids ring into a crusade against steroid use in sports. The San Jose-based agent repeatedly was questioned about the federal government's motivation for hauling athletes before the BALCO grand jury in 2003, and why an IRS agent who ordinarily focuses on financial investigations would be cut loose to probe the sports world's doping problems.

The agent did not budge from his earlier assertions that investigators needed the testimony of Thomas and other athletes to determine BALCO's reach.

"Your goal was not to investigate violations of the rules of sport, correct?" Balogh asked.

"Correct," Novitzky replied.

"Your goal was not to clean up the record books?" Balogh

"That's correct," the agent said

Incredible how arguments can be pulled in from ethical outer space that appear to be pushing a point -- but a  ridiculous point -- that  the government 's inquiry was a witch-hunt (except in this case there are real witches), and that there was enough evidence to convict BALCO of drug charges without Thomas's truthful testimony.  Thus, Thomas's truthful answers were superfluous.

In other words the US government, elected by the people and governing for the benefit of the electorate should never concern itself with drug abuse, sports fraud, money laundering, integrity in sports, cheating, and lying.  That concept is laughable, and frankly dangerous...however far too common.

Further, the attorneys posit that lying to investigators constitutes no crime if in the lawyer's opinion the evidence (in hindsight) was already sufficient.  Again, ridiculous.

Thomas -- an obvious anabolic steroid abuser who cheated competitors to win medals by abusing  hormones -- could have avoided this entire episode by simply telling investigators the embarrassing truth.  Damn, that truth is so inconvenient.  Thomas dishonored her sport and herself by taking so many hormones that she needed to shave in the morning, pluck hairs from her chest, and take voice lessons as a baritone before beating her competitors.

That anyone defends cheating, or suggests fans don't really care about integrity of games, seems inexplicably illogical unless one understands there is a segment of the public, whose moral compass simply spins bizarrely out of control.  Anything goes if money and fame are on the line.  Is this the 'Tonya Harding' defense of PED use?

Any fan attending a MLB game last year to hear the boos for Barry Bonds -- many coming from kids -- will understand that even young fans understand concepts like cheating and lying.  It appears it takes the adults to mount a disingenuous theory on why lying and cheating and scheming are acceptable among intelligent people.  (more after the jump)
 

More on the 'irrelevant defense'  of lying.

During opening statements last week, Balogh told jurors that he will question the government's motivation for calling athletes to the grand jury and argue that Thomas' testimony had no bearing on the BALCO inquiry.

In fact, Balogh repeatedly suggested in his questions g.to Novitzky that the government did not need the athletes' testimony after a September 2003 raid on BALCO, which turned up a variety of performance enhancing drugs and documents linking the distribution of steroids to dozens of elite athletes. Novitzky also reported that BALCO mastermind Victor Conte, BALCO vice president James Valente and trainer Greg Anderson all confessed after the raid, although all three have said the agent distorted their statements.

"With these confessions and a mountain of evidence you'd uncovered, the case was pretty much over in convicting these three men, wouldn't you agree?" Balogh asked.

"No," Novitzky replied, refusing to concede much to the lawyer.

Novitzky stuck to his story that Thomas' alleged lies to the grand jury hung up the investigation into Arnold. The issue could be important for the jury, which must evaluate Thomas' defense that her grand jury testimony was not "material" and any lies or misstatements were irrelevant.

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