[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE FIRST CLEAN OLYMPICS? RODCHENKOV ACT
ENFORCEMENT AT TOKYO 2021
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 21, 2021
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Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in
Europe
[CSCE117-3]
Available via www.csce.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-017 WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
SENATE HOUSE
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland STEVE COHEN, Tennessee Co-Chairman
Chairman JOE WILSON, South Carolina Ranking
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi Member
Ranking Member ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut EMANUEL CLEAVER II, Missouri
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
MARCO RUBIO, Florida RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
TINA SMITH, Minnesota GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin
THOM TILLIS, North Carolina MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Department of State - to be appointed
Department of Defense - to be appointed
Department of Commerce - to be appointed
C O N T E N T S
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Page
COMMISSIONERS
Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman, from Maryland................. 1
Hon. Ruben Gallego, from Arizona................................. 3
Hon. Steve Cohen, Co-Chairman, from Tennessee.................... 15
WITNESSES
Richard Baum, U.S. Coordinator, Doping in Sport, White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy......................... 3
Edwin Moses, Emeritus Chair, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency;............ 5
Jim Walden, Partner, Walden, Macht, & Haran, and Attorney for Dr.
Grigory Rodchenkov............................................. 7
Debra LaPrevotte, Senior Investigator, the Sentry................ 9
Noah Hoffman, Two-Time Olympian.................................. 11
THE FIRST CLEAN OLYMPICS? RODCHENKOV ACT ENFORCEMENT AT TOKYO 2021
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE,
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Wednesday, July 21, 2021.
The hearing was held from 2:43 p.m. to 3:55 p.m. in Room
428A, Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, Senator
Ben Cardin [D-MD], Chairman, Commission for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, presiding.
Committee Members Present: Senator Ben Cardin [D-MD],
Chairman; Representative Steve Cohen [D-TN], Co-Chairman
Representative Ruben Gallego [D-AZ].
Witnesses: Edwin Moses, Emeritus Chair, U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency; Richard Baum, U.S. Coordinator, Doping in Sport, White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Jim Walden,
Partner, Walden, Macht, & Haran, and Attorney for Dr. Grigory
Rodchenkov; Debra LaPrevotte, Senior Investigator, the Sentry;
Noah Hoffman, Two-Time Olympian.
OPENING STATEMENT OF BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, CHAIRMAN, U.S. SENATE,
FROM MARYLAND
Chairman Cardin [In progress]--schedule this afternoon, so
we get a little bit tricky. I am very privileged to call this
Helsinki Commission hearing to order and welcome our
distinguished panel. I must tell you, in two cases I have been
your fans, watching you on the screen as you performed on
behalf of the United States. I rooted for you, and it must have
worked. [Laughs.] Because you--in Mr. Moses's case, you had a
long record going. I think I was partly responsible for that,
the way I was yelling and screaming. I will take a little bit
of credit for you, and on cross-country skiing, it is something
I tried once. [Laughs.] It is tough. It is difficult. My
congratulations to both of our Olympiads for representing our
country so well.
This hearing is to deal with the--we call it the first
clean Olympics, the Rodchenkov Act enforcement at Tokyo 2021.
We anticipate that the Tokyo games will begin on Friday. There
is no guarantee of that, as the politics of this are evolving
every day and as COVID-19 is getting more serious, but we do
anticipate that the games will start this Friday. However,
anything can happen. The real question is, will this Olympics
be clean of doping? That is an issue that is not yet fully
understood. Will the Rodchenkov Act be fully enforced? Will the
committee take appropriate action to make sure that doping does
not take place in the Tokyo Olympics? That is one of the
reasons that we are so pleased to hold this hearing, is to shed
some light on where we are today, what can we anticipate, and
what, if anything, Congress should be doing to make sure that
we have transparency and deal with the potential doping of
athletes.
The Commission had the honor of meeting Dr. Rodchenkov--a
couple of years ago. We heard about the doping fraud in the
2014 Sochi Games. The importance and courage of whistleblowers
was very clear to us here. You had a person who had
responsibility in Moscow to deal with anti-doping. He saw the
scandalous activities that were taking place, and as a result,
he wanted to do something about it. That takes courage. He is a
hero. He is a hero for the Russian people, and he stood up to
the kleptocrats, who were plummeting their country and doing
dishonor. He now faces the threats of retaliation--make no
mistake about it; It is a dangerous thing to turn on Mr.
Putin--for telling the truth.
The 2018 investigation of Russian state doping revealed a
Putin regime that went to great lengths to defraud clean
athletes, honest businesses, and democratic states at the 2014
Sochi Games. It involved the Russian state intelligence
agencies and its covert operation agencies--including the FSB.
It is part of a practice that we have seen now clearly under
Mr. Putin's leadership in Russia--the asymmetric arsenal that
he uses. He uses that to control as much of the activities as
he possibly can. He uses it to try to bring down Democratic
institutions. He uses that to cheat. He uses that for
corruption. He uses that for part of his kleptocracy. All of
that is part of his game plan, and we need to take action
against it.
As a result, a new criminal statute was passed to enforce--
give law enforcement a tool to dismantle these corrupt
networks. The Rodchenkov Act was bipartisan, which is not
always the case around this institution. It was strongly
bipartisan, and we worked together, and ultimately it passed
both the House and Senate chambers by unanimous vote. It was
widely accepted as a part of the toolkit needed to deal with
Russia's doping activities. We consulted with the stakeholders
before we passed the law. Some are with us today, and we thank
you for your participation in that, and it really expressed the
U.S. leadership on this issue.
I want to underscore that. This is--you know, we have taken
the lead globally in protecting good governance and integrity.
We did that with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when America
established the standards necessary for corrupt officials and
not participating with corrupt officials. We did that with the
Magnitsky Act, making it clear that these corrupt officials
would not enjoy our country or our banking system, and that has
been an effective way. Well, we would hope that the Rodchenkov
Act would be in that same vein, where the United States would
show leadership, but they are going to have to demonstrate
leadership on this issue for it truly to be enforced
effectively. That is what we hope that we will be able to deal
with today.
With that, I am going to turn to our witnesses. I want to
welcome my colleague here. It is good to have you with us. I do
not know if you would like to make some opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF RUBEN GALLEGO, U.S. HOUSE, FROM ARIZONA
Representative Gallego: Thank you, Senator. Thank you for
having me and I am glad to be part of this commission, my first
meeting, and love to hear your testimony.
Chairman CARDIN: Well, thank you. Welcome to the
Commission. I am going to now introduce our witnesses, and the
order I introduce it will be the order that you will be able to
make your presentations. Your full statements will be made part
of our record. You may proceed as you wish.
Richard Baum is the U.S. coordinator of doping in sports.
He has been at the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy for more than two decades, with five Presidential
administrations. I do not know if you survived presidents.
[Laughter.] However, congratulations to you then and the acting
director now. In February 2021 he was appointed as the United
States coordinator for doping in sports, and he is been
extremely active on this issue, and we thank him for all of his
work.
Edwin Moses, I think is known to all of us, as a three-time
Olympiad, Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic gold medals
in 1976 and 1984, three World Cup titles, two world
championships, and broke the world record four times as a 400-
meter hurdler in one of the most dominant reigns in world
sports of 9 years, 9 months, and 9 days--122 consecutive races,
170 finals. He remained undefeated. That is--you know, those of
us who run for office all the time, that record is--
[laughter]--seems unattainable. Therefore, it is a real honor
to have you here, and you have been an inspiration for us for a
long time. So, thank you for joining us today.
Jim Walden is a partner at Walden, Macht & Haran, managing
partner. Is a nationally recognized trial lawyer focusing on
high-profile criminal, civil, and regulatory matters. He
defended the whistleblower Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, who was a
former Moscow anti-doping lab head.
Debra LaPrevotte, a senior investigator for a century
investigates greed that fuels war crimes and atrocities in
central Africa. Debra retired after 20 years with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. She served as a special agent on the
International Corruption Unit at FBI headquarters and was
instrumental in initiating the FBI's kleptocracy programs. A
pleasure to have you here.
Noah Hoffman, who is a two-time Olympic cross-country skier
from Colorado. He was a member of the U.S. National Ski Team
from 2007 to 2017. He competed in Sochi in 2014 and again in
the 2018 Olympic Games. He felt the impact of doping personally
and acutely during his career. The only way I can relate to
your career is that I skied in Colorado, and I left my knee
there with a pretty serious injury. Other than that, it is a
pleasure to have all of you with us today.
We will start with Mr. Baum.
TESTIMONY OF RICHARD BAUM, U.S. COORDINATOR, DOPING IN SPORT,
WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY
Mr. Baum: Talk, Okay. Thank you, Chairman Cardin,
Commission members. Thanks so much for inviting ONDCP to
testify today--the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
ONDCP is responsible for the anti-doping portfolio in the
executive branch and manages the Federal grant funds that
support the World Anti-Doping Agency, [WADA], and the U.S.
Anti-Doping Agency, [USADA]. The person who serves as the ONDCP
director serves on the WADA Foundation Board as a
representative of the U.S. That is Acting Director Regina
LaBelle. The International Olympic Committee established WADA
in 1999. WADA is the international organization for monitoring
the global fight against doping in sports. The WADA anti-doping
code serves as the international standard against which anti-
doping policies can be measured.
WADA's responsibilities include setting anti-doping
standards of general applicability, monitoring the compliance
of the code--of code signatories, and WADA-accredited
laboratories in upholding the rights and interests of athletes
to help ensure fair athletic competition. Unfortunately, we
have seen repeatedly throughout international sports
competitions the need for this governing body. Russia's actions
at the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi are a
particularly appalling example of a well-orchestrated state-
sponsored doping scheme. The Sochi scandal was the doping crime
of the century, but it would be nave to think that Russia is
the only country that sees the Olympic Games as an opportunity
to employ corrupt means to bring home gold medals.
The remarkable Sochi cheating conspiracy highlights the
need to apply new tools to this grave threat. ONDCP is very
encouraged that Congress enacted the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping
Act. Dr. Rodchenkov has explained very clearly that doping in
sport should not be thought of as individual actions of
athletes, but rather as part of a complex operation with many
key actors behind the scenes orchestrating events with
technical proficiency, careful planning, and State power all
involved. By defining doping as fraud, since such crimes
defraud athletes of prize money and sponsorships, the new law
extends the substantial whistleblower protections under U.S.
law to those who provide useful information to law enforcement
in prosecuting these cases. We urge whistleblowers to come
forward so that criminals, wherever they reside, can be brought
to justice.
The U.S. is working seriously on the issue of doping at
home and abroad. When countries are unwilling or unable to
prevent and sanction these violations, WADA--as the single
global regulator for doping--must take decisive action. There
is still much work to do to fully root out corruption in
governmental sports ministries, international sports
federations, national anti-doping organizations, and
laboratories. There are also still unaddressed systemic
challenges with the internal governance of WADA. These flaws in
its structure date back to its founding. Just as the sports and
doping worlds have changed a great deal in the 22 years since
WADA was established, society's understanding of what
constitutes an effective, modern organization has also changed.
The need for high ethical standards, management efficiency,
diversity, equity, and inclusion have all advanced. A fit-for-
purpose WADA would adapt and address issues that hamper its
effectiveness as the global regulator of doping in sport.
In May, ONDCP provided a detailed report to Congress that
enumerated 10 challenges that, if addressed, would improve
worldwide anti-doping oversight. Today let me highlight the
most urgent reform needed. We need to see a transformation of
the WADA Executive Committee. That is the key decisionmaking
entity of the organization, sort of their board of directors.
It needs to be changed into a fully independent expert body.
Its work is too important to be subject to even the appearance
of conflicts of interest. The U.S. will be pursuing this reform
proactively in cooperation with other governments. If the IOC
blocks this systemic reform, the U.S. will pursue other
alternatives to increase independence within the WADA executive
committee more gradually.
Finally, let me note that ONDCP has decided to use the
authority provided by Congress to make a partial payment of
U.S. dues to WADA for the first time. Congress appropriated up
to $2.9 million in Fiscal Year 2021 for ONDCP to fulfill the
annual U.S. dues commitment to WADA. ONDCP, breaking from our
past practice, intends to transmit just over half of this
amount later this year. We view this partial dues payment as a
sign of good faith while indicating our commitment to ensure
ongoing governance reform at WADA. We hope to see sufficient
progress to make the remainder of the dues payment this year.
ONDCP looks forward to staying in close touch with Congress as
we pursue challenging negotiations over the next several
months. Thank you very much.
Chairman Cardin: Thank you.
Mr. Moses.
TESTIMONY OF EDWIN MOSES, EMERITUS CHAIR, U.S. ANTI-DOPING
AGENCY
Mr. Moses: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Cardin,
Chairman Cohen--Chairman Cardin, members of the Commission, my
name is Dr. Edwin Moses, and I am the chairman emeritus of the
board of directors of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. As
a three-time Olympian medalist, athletics have played an
integral role in my life for the past 40 years. Although great
strides in anti-doping have been made, particularly here in the
United States, the issues of doping in international sports
that plagued my generation continue to affect athletes now. I
want to thank the Helsinki Commission for protecting U.S.
athletes' rights, both here at home and abroad, by introducing
and passing the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Fraud Act. In short, it
is a game-changing statute that will have a significant effect
on international sports.
As so clearly revealed by the Russian state-sponsored
doping saga, the struggle still continues. We are at a critical
juncture for the soul--literally, the soul--of our sports. It
is important for the Commission to know about the significant
ongoing threats facing clean athletes and fair play, and what
can be done about it. Just this year it was revealed that
Russia had engaged in massive corruption with the president of
the International Biathlon Union. The International
Weightlifting Union was sanctioned for widespread corruption
and covered-up drug tests. This state-sanctioned behavior
cannot continue to happen, and IOC cannot continue to miss or
ignore defining moments to confront this fraud. Time and time
again, when these decisive moments arrived when the lights were
shining the brightest, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC
repeatedly failed to lead.
That is why the Rodchenkov Act is so critical. This law
protects the U.S. financial investment in international
competition, stops corrupt actors that organize and facilitate
doping fraud, compensates clean athletes who have been
defrauded and protects whistleblowers. The Rodchenkov Act is a
strong deterrent to those who look to corrupt sports on a
global level. We believe that the statute can be even stronger
by allowing the proceeds of unlawful activity under the act to
be considered money laundering under the U.S. Code. An
essential component of any effective anti-doping program is the
ability to demonstrate to the athlete, coach, and sporting
community that you can be trusted to do the job, fairly
enforcing the rules even when it is not easy or popular to do
so. We have seen this faith demonstrated in our Play Clean
Whistleblower Line, which received over 450 tips from all over
the world in 2020.
USADA is also grateful for the close partnerships with U.S.
law enforcement agencies over the past 20 years, from BALCO to
the Russian state-sponsored investigation. We are thrilled to
act to further harmonize and strengthen the effort to build
these relationships. Testing is the backbone of an effective
program. Transparency in these efforts is essential. WADA's
unwillingness to disclose specific testing numbers leading into
the Tokyo games is concerning. We know and understand that
global testing was down approximately 45 percent in 2020, and
down another--down 20 percent in 2021. What is worse is that
there is no way to know if athletes outside the United States
heading to the games have been properly tested. In Rio, out of
11,470 athletes, 4,125 were not tested at all, and 1,913 of
those athletes in the 10 sports with the highest risk for
doping were allowed to compete without being tested ahead of
the games.
Without transparency to the testing numbers, we have to ask
if these games will be clean, as the IOC promises. In the U.S.,
we post these test results for our athletes on our website.
Athletes demanded that we do this as a measure of
accountability and transparency. It is something that they are
able to access and digest for their own purposes. We should all
be proud of the sacrifices and lengths our athletes go in order
to live up to their promise to win the right way. We also
applaud the ONDCP for their recent robust analysis of WADA. In
their report to Congress on May 17, 2021, it detailed the
efforts for WADA governance reform and possible solutions. We
are particularly grateful for ONDCP's decision to partially
withhold U.S. taxpayer dues to WADA based on the need for
reform. I hope the Commission knows that USADA never loses
sight of who we work for. We view the athletes and their
powerful stories as our guiding light, our North Star.
Thank you for holding this important hearing today, and for
your continued effort on behalf of clean athletes. USADA looks
forward to continuing to work with the Helsinki Commission as
the Tokyo Games begin this week, and as we welcome to world
here to the United States for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer
Olympic Games. Thank you.
Chairman Cardin: Once again, thank you for your testimony.
We appreciate it very much. Mr. Walden.
TESTIMONY OF JIM WALDEN, PARTNER, WALDEN, MACHT, & HARAN, AND
ATTORNEY FOR DR. GRIGORY RODCHENKOV
Mr. Walden: Chairman Cardin, distinguished members and
staff from the Helsinki Commission, my name is Jim Walden and,
together with my colleague Avni Patel, we had the great honor
of representing Dr. Rodchenkov. Dr. Rodchenkov could not be
here today because of security reasons, and Ms. Patel could not
be here because she just gave birth. [Laughter.] In their
absence and on their behalf, let me offer the following
remarks, setting the stage with what brings us here, as we all
know.
Dr. Rodchenkov was the head of the Moscow Anti-Doping
Center at the time of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. At the
direction of and under the supervision of Vladimir Putin, the
Russian president, Vitaly Mutko, the minister of sport, other
top-level State actors, and the Russian secret police, Dr.
Rodchenkov helped orchestrate the most elaborate doping scheme
in world history. The scheme succeeded, at least at first.
Russia celebrated its most medals ever, 33 total medals, with
13 of them gold. A year later, Dr. Rodchenkov was on a flight
from Moscow to Los Angeles with very different things in their
mind. Investigative journalists had exposed part of the doping
scheme, Dr. Rodchenkov learned that the Kremlin planned to
stage his suicide and blame him for the doping program that it
created, directed, and funded for decades.
Long torn between his competing roles as an anti-doping
pioneer on the one hand and a doping enabler on the other, Dr.
Rodchenkov left his family and his life behind, intent on
exposing the entire state-sponsored doping scheme to the world.
Expose it he did. In truth, WADA and the IOC had plenty of
reasons to act against Russia, even before Dr. Rodchenkov's
revelations. By the end of 2015, there was ample proof of a
state-sponsored doping system, in part because of informants,
brave whistleblowers, and an avalanche of athletes from
multiple sports who all tested positive for anti-doping
violations in the years before. None of this caused WADA or the
IOC to act. It was not until Dr. Rodchenkov revealed his truth
to The New York Times that this harsh sunlight finally forced
WADA and the IOC from the shadows.
The start of their Sochi investigation was encouraging.
WADA engaged qualified investigators to objectively review the
evidence and, after their painstaking investigation, they
confirmed by the existence of the state-sponsored doping scheme
and the participation of scores of Russian athletes, lab
personnel, State employees, and politicians in the scheme. Two
IOC commissions confirmed the results of the earlier
investigation, and between 2017 and today literally dozens of
investigative panels and law enforcement have reviewed the
evidence and confirmed Russia's guilt. In short, Russia's
state-sponsored doping system is the most thoroughly documented
crime in sports history.
It is because of the scope and the brazenness of Russia's
crimes--all sanctioned at the highest level of the Russian
government--that WADA's and the IOC's impotence or complicity
is alarming. Put simply, WADA and the IOC have failed to hold
Russia accountable in any meaningful way. When I testified
before this commission in February 2018 and proposed the first
long-arm doping fraud statute, I did not make that proposal
because of Russian corruption. Rather, it was because I saw
that the only system established to confront that corruption,
the only true gatekeeper for clean athletes, was broken beyond
repair.
In the end, after all the effort and the resources poured
into these investigations, there was little reform that
benefited clean athletes worldwide. Ultimately, 13 Sochi medals
were stripped and then nine were reinstated. Forty-two top-
level Russian athletes were banned, and 29 were reinstated. The
Russian minister of Sport, Vitaly Mutko, was banned and then
reinstated. As a so-called punishment for its crimes, Russia
suffered two Olympic bans, but those were largely cosmetic--as
Russian athletes were welcome to and participated at every
Olympics since. In fact, three days after the 2018 Winter
Olympics, the IOC reinstated the Russian Olympic Committee,
despite the fact that two of its athletes tested positive
during the games. In September 2018, WADA reinstated the
Russian Anti-Doping Agency, despite the fact that Russia had
not complied with key requirements that WADA mandated.
Since Sochi, we have learned more about corruption within
WADA. Criminal authorities have now filed charges against two
of WADA's foundation board members. For what? Covering up
doping fraud, sometimes in return for bribes. With this
context, how did WADA's leadership react to American calls for
justice and reform? America, WADA's largest source of funding
among nations, has been systematically excluded from its
executive committee since 2015. WADA excluded the United States
from the working group set up to devise its own reforms. When
Congress demanded that WADA finally cleanup its act as a
condition of further funding, the current WADA president had
the audacity to threaten to expel American athletes from
international competition.
Chairman, against this backdrop it is clear that the
Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act is essential to restore integrity to
international sports and to protect clean athletes because the
current system is corrupt, purposefully ineffective, and deeply
conflicted. Doping is only one small part of the problem. It
exists within an infrastructure that includes bribery, money
laundering, extensive drug trafficking, witness intimidation,
and computer hacking. It is not just about the dirty athletes
themselves. It is about the doctors, coaches, sports officials,
and politicians who command it, support it and cover it up. It
is about the so-called gatekeepers who talk a tough game but,
in the end, tolerate doping by wealthy nations.
Sadly, the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act will not make the
Tokyo games clean. They will not be clean. That much I
guarantee, but Congress can do two things to speed up and
supersize RADA's impact. The first is to use its oversight
authority to make sure that the FBI and DOJ allocate sufficient
resources to bring criminal cases. Investigations under RADA
will be highly complex undertakings. A skeleton crew will be
insufficient. Given the scientific complexities and the
challenges for international evidence collection, the DOJ must
create the same kind of task force it did in its recent
successful FIFA investigations. There are simply too many
innocent athletes and too much revenue at stake for Congress to
permit DOJ and FBI to under-source its RADA unit.
The second thing Congress can do is to rip off a Band-Aid,
to withhold WADA funding until it implements key reforms. In
short, WADA must achieve full independence from the political
meddling of the IOC. Its executive committee should be
comprised primarily of former clean athletes and doping--anti--
doping scientists. WADA should implement rules to achieve
greater transparency, and on that last note, as we sit here
today WADA has sufficient data to know exactly which countries
and which sports teams are at risk of doping or are committing
doping now. If Transparency International can publish a yearly
Corruption Perceptions Index that serves as a reliable tool for
the international community, surely WADA can use its
substantial data to publish a yearly doping corruption index.
This would be a valuable tool not only for DOJ's RADA unit but
to criminal enforcement authorities around the globe as they
become more active in trying to root out doping fraud in light
of WADA's impotence.
I wish to thank the Helsinki Commission and the U.A. Anti-
Doping Agency for their leadership. I would like to acknowledge
in particular Paul Massaro, who has been a reliable partner
with all of us in preparing for today and for all the events
before, and I would like to acknowledge Dr. Rodchenkov for his
bravery and perseverance. In my written testimony I included a
statement written by him. Thank you very much.
Chairman Cardin: Thank you, Mr. Walden. We really
appreciate all of your commitment to this issue that has been
longstanding.
We will now hear from Ms. LaPrevotte.
TESTIMONY OF DEBRA LAPREVOTTE, SENIOR INVESTIGATOR, THE SENTRY
Ms. Laprevotte: Chairman Cardin, Co-Chairman Cohen, and my
esteemed colleagues, it is a privilege to testify today on how
the FBI and other law enforcement agencies can approach the
Rodchenkov Act crimes as part of broader corruption and
kleptocracy investigations. Athletic achievement should be
about pure sport and, unfortunately, it is driven by profit.
Sports is a multibillion-dollar industry, and countries, teams,
sponsors, coaches, and criminal networks seek to profit from
those. Like most of the crimes that I have investigated, it is
almost always all about the money. Investigators around the
globe need to follow the money, identify criminal networks, and
expose those who manipulate the system and the playing field
through doping and performance-enhancing sports. As we approach
the Olympic games in Tokyo, the Rodchenkov Act shines a
brighter light on those involved in state-sponsored doping and
those willing to cheat to win.
It is a global problem. The U.S. sports market is valued at
$500 billion. U.S. football, basketball, and baseball teams are
valued at $5 billion, which is more than the GDP of 30
countries. U.S.--I mean, European soccer teams are valued at $5
billion. A cricket team out of India is valued at 6.8 billion
dollars. I mean, it is big money, and where there is big money,
there is corruption or the potential for corruption. The
pressure on coaches to win and generate revenues can cause them
to turn to doping and other performance-enhancing sports.
Sponsors, who are motivated by great financial rewards and
greater exposure, can encourage doping or turn a blind eye to
criminal activity. For those involved in exercise biochemistry
and drug manufacturing, the profits seem worth the risk. As we
saw at the Sochi Olympics and previous Olympic Games, the
effects of state-sponsored doping have a huge impact on the
games.
The allure of performance-enhancing sports and doping to
maximize profits power and prestige is enormous. This opens the
door to corruption. This is where the FBI and other law
enforcement agencies can step in and hopefully fight these
criminal networks. Investigating organized doping schemes is
very similar to investigating the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act. Like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Rodchenkov Act
allows the U.S. to take the lead role in these investigations
and helps even the playing field. Many fraud schemes share the
same MO of criminal conduct. When we look at these large-scale
doping schemes, I am probably going to see violations of
bribery, money laundering, wire fraud, extortion, and other
RICO and FDA violations for the drug aspects.
Organized crime networks are involved in doping and the
manufacturing of performance-enhancing sports. The FBI recently
launched a new Integrity in Sports and Gaming Program. The
effort will dedicate agents and intelligence and financial
analysts to investigating the criminal aspects of doping, as
well as match-fixing and gambling-related crimes. This program
is an excellent opportunity for the U.S. to work with our
foreign partners to address crime in sports. In many cases, our
foreign partners are already working hard at this. In 2019,
Interpol, led by investigators from Italy and Greece, conducted
Operation Viribus. This effort involved 33 different countries
and was a massive crackdown on doping materials. This
investigation dismantled 17 criminal organizations, led to 234
arrests, and closed down nine underground drug operations and
production labs.
This case involved over 1,000 people who were involved in
the production, commerce, and use of doping products. Right
now, the Anti-corruption Commission in Australia is also
investigating the role that organized crime plays in
performance-enhancing sports, including the sourcing and
supplying of next-generation performance drugs. There are
investigations around the globe into doping, and they are
looking at the role played by coaches, team physicians, and
franchise owners. In the same way, the Global Magnitsky Act
shined a brighter light on corruption and imposing
accountability, and one that is being replicated by
jurisdictions around the world at this time and by groups like
the Sentry, where I work now, where NGO's can play a role in
exposing these activities, the Rodchenkov Act can bring more
focused attention on how doping can be effectively targeted.
The young athletes of tomorrow who are about to be inspired
by what they see at the Olympics deserve to be able to focus on
what they need to do as athletes and to improve and compete at
the highest levels, rather than feel that their chances will be
stolen by those who are willing to cheat and desire profits
over hard work. Winning without honor is really not winning.
That is why we are very happy that the Rodchenkov Act was
passed.
Chairman Cardin: Thank you very much for all your work.
We will now hear from Mr. Hoffman.
TESTIMONY OF NOAH HOFFMAN, TWO-TIME OLYMPIAN
Mr. Hoffman: Chairman Cardin, Co-Chairman Cohen, members of
this Commission, my name is Noah Hoffman, and it is my pleasure
to appear before you today to discuss the costs of doping fraud
and the need for strong enforcement of the Rodchenkov Anti-
Doping Act. I competed at the two most recent Winter Olympic
Games as a member of Team USA. In my sport, of cross-country
skiing, I felt the effects of doping fraud firsthand. Doping
fraud does not just affect the athletes who are next in line
for the podium. It affects every athlete chasing an Olympic
dream. Here is one story about how I felt the effects of doping
fraud--just one of many.
At the end of the 2013/14 racing season, I was ranked 31st
on the world ranking list. Being top 30 on the list
automatically qualifies athletes for the U.S. Ski Team's A
team. I was outside the top 30, I was named to the B team
instead. The A team is fully funded by the U.S. Ski Team. B
team athletes must pay for their own room, board, and travel
expenses for training camps and races. I missed out on the A
team, I had to cover about $25,000 in expenses that would have
been covered by the team if I had been just one spot higher on
the world ranking list. That meant spending time fundraising
that could have been spent training. It also meant that every
potential training camp started with the question: How am I
going to pay for this?
Ahead of me on the world ranking list that season, when I
missed out on the A team by just one spot, were six Russian
athletes, three of whom were later provisionally suspended for
being a part of Russia's state-sponsored doping scheme during
that very same season. The revelations about Russian doping
came too late for me. I never did qualify for the A team,
despite being the top-ranked American cross-country skier
competing in distance events. Every one of my teammates has a
story like this. Doping affects every athlete competing at the
international level and every young person inspired by their
favorite athlete, who later feels deceived when doping comes to
light.
The Rodchenkov Act passed at the right time for athletes,
because the international anti-doping system has failed to take
meaningful action against the perpetrators of institutional
doping. Strong enforcement of the Rodchenkov Act in Tokyo,
Beijing, and beyond is essential to restore athletes' and fans'
belief in clean sports. This is more than about policing doping
fraud. It is about standing up for the rule of law and
democratic values of equal opportunity and fair play. The
Rodchenkov Act, with its strong whistleblower protections, put
the burden on athletes to share what they know about doping
fraud. As Mr. Walden said, these athletes have been coming
forward with information. I ask today's athletes to continue to
come forward with information about doping fraud to ensure a
level playing field for the next generation.
Athletes can now walk into any U.S. consulate or embassy
anywhere in the world, speak to law enforcement, and share
information about doping fraud. The Rodchenkov Act does not
just cover international doping fraud. Athletes can report
information about doping fraud here in the U.S. by contacting a
local FBI office. I ask law enforcement to take these tips
seriously and to prioritize investigations into doping fraud to
hold those responsible accountable. The Rodchenkov Act alone,
as we have heard here today, is not going to stem the tide of
institutional doping. The international anti-doping system is
broken. The International Olympic Committee and other sports
administrators have too much control over the World Anti-Doping
Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. They have
demonstrated over and over again an unwillingness to take
meaningful action against sports administrators who facilitate
doping.
I ask Congress and the members of this Commission to do
everything in your power to reform the World Anti-Doping
Agency, to help out the ONDCP, and to ensure that WADA has the
independence and power it needs to achieve its mission of
doping-free sport. I urge you to push for a WADA that is fully
independent of the sporting administrators whom the agency is
tasked to regulate. Thank you for the opportunity to testify
before this commission today. I look forward to answering any
questions.
Chairman Cardin: Well, let me thank all of our witnesses,
again, for the very, very constructive testimony. As you noted,
we have been joined by Congressman Cohen, the House chair of
the Helsinki Commission. The vote on the infrastructure started
about 5 minutes ago, so I am going to leave here in about five
to 10 minutes in order to cast my vote. I want to first start
by acknowledging, Mr. Hoffman, your testimony by putting a face
on this. I think most of us think that doping affects an
individual competition, but your circumstance--it may even deny
an athlete an opportunity to compete because of the rankings in
the international scene. You were able to get through that, but
not everyone can get through that, and it certainly distracted
from your preparation and being at the top of your game.
Therefore, it affects all of us, and I think that point is so
important.
Second, I share your desire to reform WADA and the IOC. Do
I have confidence that that will happen? No. Should we try?
Yes. Will we succeed in the short run? Unlikely. We have to go
beyond just the efforts that we will make on the international
front. I think about what we did with the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act. We tried to get international strong sanctions
to deal with corruption, and we could not. Then the United
States acted. Yes, other countries followed our lead, so, yes,
we have to enforce the Rodchenkov law. The United States has
got to be aggressive, we have to make sure the law enforcement
has the resources they need. We also need to lead
internationally with other countries, and our friends, so that
we have a coalition willing to stand up against doping in
sports because, as you said, it is a big business. It is part
of an overall corruption challenge that we have on corruption,
and it is something that the Congress has spoken to, and we all
need to step forward and show the international community we
can do something. If we do, then just maybe we will see greater
international response to the issue.
I will give you one more example that this Commission was
very actively involved in, and that is stopping trafficking in
humans. It was never considered globally to be a big deal. It
was a huge deal, modern-day slavery. The United States stood up
to deal with this, and we ultimately did get the international
community to recognize. What we did is very interesting,
because one of the recommendations you are making is about
naming--rating and naming how countries are doing in doping. We
did that in trafficking, so we put out a report every year, and
if you are not doing right, you are tier three, and the whole
world knows that you are tier three. It is a similar situation
with doping. The transparency can be very, very helpful in
getting that done.
I guess my question is: How can we--you already talked
about funding for our law enforcement? How can we work with our
allies, who are strongly in support of cleaning up the doping
challenges? How can the United States take a stronger lead? I
am talking about the Tokyo Olympics. Let us start now. We have
the world's attention on it. Once the Olympic Games are over,
it is hard to get that type of focus on this issue. How can we
take advantage of the spotlight on Tokyo to advance the
international will to clean up this doping challenge--when we
know we do not have WADA and we do not have the IOC serious
about dealing with those issues? I welcome any one of your
thoughts.
Mr. Walden: I do not mind, if you will hear me again.
Chairman Cardin: You are never bashful. I know that.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Walden: Thanks, again, and hello, Chairman Cohen. Thank
you for joining as well.
Chairman, I think that there is a good story to tell in the
sense that the United States is not alone in trying to root out
the problem. As Dr. Moses said and as others have referenced,
including you, we have criminal partners in Austria, Australia,
the Netherlands, and other countries that understand that WADA
has been ineffective and that the only solution to protect
clean athletes is to put people in jail. The first time the
Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act is used on a doctor, a coach, or a
government official, it will have a seismic impact. Other
enforcement authorities are already having that impact. Taking
two of WADA's foundation board members and subjecting them to
criminal penalties for covering up doping fraud is incredibly
significant.
I think that you are absolutely right. DOJ needs to speak
loudly and speak alongside other enforcement partners that are
already bringing criminal penalties to bear, and to do the same
thing that they did with Magnitsky, the same thing they did
with the FCPA, and frankly, the same thing they did with the
Antitrust Act. I mean, the United States was the first country
to pass a law like the Sherman Act and look what is happened.
Countries around the world have now developed systems very much
like the leniency program that came into play in the late
1980's, as a result of the Sherman Act. Now there is a
coalition of worldwide partners working together to root out
cartels. We need the same thing to happen with doping and its
related corruption.
Chairman Cardin: Well, I agree. I think we really need to
establish a track record. It starts with what we do here in the
United States and using our own institutions. The more we can
work in a multilateral fashion, the stronger we will be.
Ultimately we embarrass the international organizations to move
on this issue. That is, I think, our strongest strategy. At the
same time, I do not disagree--Mr. Moses, with your point about
doing everything we can with WADA to change it and put a
spotlight on it. We do not give--we do not give them a pass, by
any measure, and we certainly use the U.S. participation--which
I am not opposed to our participation, but it has got to be
based--as President Biden said, all of our foreign policy needs
to be based on our values. Everything we do within WADA has to
be based upon the values that we hold dear, including anti-
doping.
Mr. Moses: Correct. One of the things that--one of the peer
groups that we have to really rely on for support are the
active athletes and the retired athletes. When the Russian
Sochi debacle played out, nine--nine out of every 10 athlete-
commissioned groups in the world wanted the Russians to be
banned from the Olympics, for four years to indefinitely. They
were adamant about that, and I think in a certain sense the
powers that be in an international sports world were able to
suppress the athletes' voices in many different ways,
especially at the--at the commission level--some of the
athletes commissions. Particularly the IOC athletes
commissions.
They were virtually the only ones who were wavering on
anything, except a serious conviction of the Russian Olympic
Committee. Even if that meant having to take the whole Russian
Olympic team out. There are many athletes today who feel that,
yes, athletes have rights, and we really do not want to have a
situation where innocent Russian athletes do not have the
opportunity to compete. Unless a ruling has real teeth in it,
unless something happens at the top levels of the government of
the Soviet Union, as you so adeptly describe, it starts at the
top--the leadership of the sports programs and the prestige of
the Russian sports programs and their success starts at the
top. Its influence extends from the top of the government all
the way through. You know, unless there are some kind of
sanctions that are really going to affect that structure, then
it is going to be very difficult to do something.
Chairman Cardin: Well, I cannot tell you how important I
think it is for the athletes to speak up about this. Therefore,
we appreciate your leadership and, Mr. Hoffman, your
leadership. It is powerful, believe me, your participation in
these efforts. We are going to stick with this issue. We are
not--we are not going to let it go. We will be in touch with
our law enforcement, and we will also be urging our
participation in international forums to underscore the
responsibilities that are there. You are giving a pretty
pessimistic account of what we can expect in Tokyo. You would
not be shocked to find there is widespread doping in Tokyo, I
take it. Yes?
Ms. Laprevotte: Coming from my background with
international corruption, I would also look at a lot of efforts
into tracing the money, because it is for profit. Even so far
as going after money that was made post-Olympic or post any
sport in sponsorship. I mean, if you--if your sponsorship is
based on your gold medal or your winning team, then--and doping
has been proven--then it is the proceeds of fraud. There are
opportunities to go after the money and the reason behind it.
Chairman Cardin: That is a very good point, and we do trace
the money. Your expertise in that area can be very helpful to
us. We may be falling back on a lot of the help that we have
already gotten from this panel.
I am going to turn this over to Congressman Cohen, and
apologize, and just again underscore the vote on the floor has
to deal with advancing the infrastructure package. Senator
Schumer would never forgive me if I did not get over to the
floor soon. Thank you all very much and I really appreciate
your incredible leadership on this important issue.
STATEMENT OF STEVE COHEN, CO-CHAIR, U.S. HOUSE, FROM TENNESSEE
Representative Cohen: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for
holding this hearing--this important hearing. There is so much
I want to ask, but I am going to start with Dr. Moses because I
am a sports fan. You were in the 1976, 1980, and 1984 Olympics?
There have been no stories about doping at those Olympics. Was
there doping at those Olympics, do you believe?
Mr. Moses: At the 1976 Olympics, that was my first exposure
to a big stadium and being an Olympian. That was my first big
meet. I will never forget the physical look at the women from
the Eastern Bloc, and how they demolished the American women,
specifically in my sport and in other sports as well. I do not
think there was a single woman that won a gold medal in--on the
running track. I was the only individual gold medal winner in
an individual running event in 1976. We won three other
medals--discus, decathlon, long jump, and the relays. That was
my first exposure to international athletics. I could not
believe what I saw. I was--400 hurdlers were supposed to be the
strong men, the really hard men and women who run that suicidal
event. I was a skinny guy, but I still thought I had muscles
until I saw the swimmers and the sprinters from East Germany.
In every even--every Olympic event, you are going to have
athletes who definitely will cheat. There is countries that
believe--that State doping has been a part of their policy and
procedures forever. I do not think we will ever see a day where
there is not individual athletes or coaches or trainers trying
to help an athlete to win illegally, just as we are never going
to see a day where no one is, you know, driving intoxicated at
night. You know, doing things like that. It is inevitably going
to be there. We have done a great job in reducing the amount
of--reducing the possibility and the outlook for athletes who
want to cheat because of the technology. Computer technology
has caught up with the world and has really gone way ahead of
what the average person thinks about. That is been a very big
deterrent going forward.
Representative Cohen: Russia is who we normally think of.
They were caught in Sochi. There were probably implications in
other places, and we think of the Russians. They are pretty--
they have a pretty good history of cheating in all areas, not
just sports.
Mr. Moses: Well, in 1989 I was a part of the team Committee
on Substance Abuse Research and Education. I was actually the
chairman. We basically operated the United States Olympic
Committee's drug testing program. One of our first missions was
to take over the HP computers to the Russians to begin--to
allow them to have the technology to set up the lab. Computers
were off limits because they were considered military--capable
of being used for military purposes. This was during the cold
war, right before the wall came down. We took the computers
over and had access to the laboratory, and the gentleman that
ran the lab, I cannot think of his name, but we saw all the
books, and the doping schedules. They explained that their
philosophy was to use medical technology physiology and high-
level sports medicine to win at all costs. Their philosophy is
totally different from what we see over here.
Representative Cohen: Has the United States been involved
in doping as well?
Mr. Moses: There have been many athletes from the United
States who have been caught in doping. Most of them operate
independently. They have their own doctor. It is inevitable
that it is going to happen. It is a worldwide phenomenon. If
you look at the list--the results from track and field, to
WADA, to USADA, and if you can go down the list--which is
published regularly--of the results from doping, you will see
that it is a worldwide problem. It is not just Russia. It is
not just the United States. It is wherever you have sportsmen
and sportswomen, and the means--the means and the will to dope.
Representative Cohen: I believe, and I may be wrong, that
your U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, of which you are emeritus chair--
and I hate to give you the difficulty of dealing with this
issue--but I believe they were the group that was responsible
for Ms. Richardson's being banned from the Olympics. Is that
correct?
Mr. Moses: We were there to enforce the rules, yes.
Actually, there are three parties to that. The U.S. Olympic
Committee is in charge of selecting the team. The United States
Track and Field--U.S. Track and Field regulates the sport, and
USADA is there just to perform the functions of carrying out
the drug tests. That is what we do.
Representative Cohen: The criteria in the drug test is any
illegal substance or any performance-enhancing substance?
Mr. Moses: They can be one or both.
Representative Cohen: I mean, I guess it is a question for
us as politicians all over the world about which drugs we deem
illegal and what level. Ms. Richardson is such a shame. When
you have got people, I am sure, in Tokyo right now who are
doping, doped, or, for the ones that get the gold in the
parlance, they are dope. No pun intended--definitely no pun
intended. Ms. Richardson smokes marijuana, legal in Oregon, and
legal in most states. Not a performance-enhancing drug unless
you are involved in the hot dog eating contest on July 4, at
Coney Island. Is not it just awful that here, when we are
looking at doping in the Olympics, the person who is
victimized--the only victim so far, we know for drugs is an
American athlete who trained for four years, lost her mother,
smoked some marijuana legally, and is not allowed to show the
world her athletic abilities?
Mr. Moses: Well, that was one of the most heartbreaking
cases that we have had this year, although there were a handful
of similar cases from the beginning of the year on. It was not
the first case of its time--of its kind. We are heartbroken at
USADA to have to adjudicate any of these cases because in many
cases there are lots of reasons for drug use. In this case, I
think Mrs. Richardson admitted what she did was wrong. She was
well aware of the rules like every international athlete is
well aware of the rules. We have always been on the side of
more liberalization of the marijuana laws with respect to
doping.
For example, over the last, I think, six years the
threshold has gone so high as to only have an athlete who tests
positive in the competition period have a positive test. The
threshold is very, very high. We try to--and we have moved and
promoted changing the regulations, bring the level higher, to
eliminate cases of out-of-competition use which, in certain
states, is legal and it is not banned out of competition.
However, she just got caught within that window. We have been
trying everything we can to get the world to understand how
this drug fits into the scheme of things.
On the other hand, WADA is made up of 650 organizations.
Neither the United States Olympic Committee, nor USADA, nor the
Track and Field Federation have anything to do with making up
the rules. There is a period in--a five-year period in which
you can give advice as to what the rules may be, but indeed in
most countries in the world, it is still an illegal substance.
There are countries in the world that under no circumstances
will they ever be as liberal as we are, certainly in certain
states in the country, but overall as we are in this country.
That is how the rules are made. Everyone is quite aware of
them, and with USADA we operate under no fear and no favor,
whether you are an 80-year-old senior athlete doing track and
field and using illegal drugs or a 15-year-old, you know,
playing in an amateur tournament in the summertime. Everyone
gets the same treatment. That was the case with Mrs.
Richardson. She was the third--she was the third one this year
of marijuana that we have had to deal with, so.
Representative Cohen: Who were the other two?
Mr. Moses: I do not know the names specifically. We had two
other cases this year. One was a swimmer and one--another one
was track and field, and it might have been another sport.
Representative Cohen: I would just encourage you, and I
think I heard within--I understand you got to deal with all
these other countries, just like I have got to deal with the
Senate and the other side of the House to boot. [Laughter.] It
is not an easy thing. I referred today to making good laws like
slow as molasses, and the cultural lag that we experience, it
is awful. I know it is tough, but I hope you will put in your
best efforts. Dr. King and my friend John Lewis both talked
about unjust laws, and because it is the law and because it is
a rule does not mean it is right, and they should be changed.
In her situation--she could have been drunk as she wanted, and
that would not have hurt her. If she was at 0.26 on her alcohol
scale, she would have been fine to go run the race. However,
for marijuana, she was not, so it is just a deal.
Ms. LaPrevotte?
Ms. Laprevotte: LaPrevotte.
Representative Cohen: LaPrevotte. You talked about money a
lot, and it reminded me of a buddy of mine named Don Schlitz.
He is a songwriter, and he wrote--his first big song was ``The
Gambler,'' so you can imagine he is pretty good and done well.
He also did a song that is called ``They Say It's Not About the
Money, It's About the Money,'' and it always is, in sports and
everywhere else. Are there ways that we can track money, or do
you think that there are ways or laws that need to be changed
for us to have more opportunity to see where money might be
coming in or out of the Olympics, and then be able to ferret
that out?
Ms. Laprevotte: From a U.S. perspective, a great deal of
the money still flows in U.S. dollars, which would give us the
venue. I think we will find that a lot of the money that is
being moved around is not going to be in the United States.
Some of it specifically to U.S. athletes may be in the U.S. The
laws we have on the books now, as long as they are related to
some of the criminal conduct--which might be extortion, money
laundering, bribery, kickbacks, all of those are specified
unlawful activities for going after the money. It would be
drugs--narcotics trafficking, drug trafficking, violations of
the Food and Drug Administration violations.
There are laws already on the books, and I thought that
until recently there have not been people within U.S. law
enforcement specifically looking at what kind of money is
moving as related to underground labs. The role that organized
crime networks are playing in manufacturing, or the extortion
related to government doping, where, you know, any athlete who
chooses not to be doped might be removed from the team or
receive threats to not talk about the international doping
aspects of team sports. There are already a lot of laws in the
books that can be used to specifically target doping and
performance-enhancing sports.
Representative Cohen: Does Bitcoin make it more difficult?
Ms. Laprevotte: Absolutely it does, because it is harder to
trace and follow. It is not always impossible, but
cybercurrencies do make it more difficult than a simple dollar
transaction that is going to move through several U.S.
financial institutions.
Representative Cohen: Thank you. I do not know who can
answer the question, who I should pose it to, but in Sochi--
and, Mr. Hoffman, you were affected by that I guess--the
Russians apparently, I think, were able to switch the bottles.
How were they able to do that? I thought that was supposed to
be--it should have been a fail-proof system, if there is such a
thing.
Mr. Hoffman: I can pass this to Mr. Walden, who represents
Mr. Rodchenkov, but they were--the KGB, which is the equivalent
of the FBI, spent--
Representative Cohen: No, I guess it is, but I usually
think of them as kind of the equivalent of a mafia. [Laughter.]
Mr. Hoffman: Sorry, false equivalency. [Laughter.] The KGB,
it would be like the FBI working on how to perpetrate crimes--
[laughter]--the KGB worked for, I believe, months to figure out
a way to open the anti-doping bottles--which all of us, as
athletes, are familiar with. When we provide a urine sample or
a blood sample, for that matter, for anti-doping purposes we
put the substance in these bottles that are supposed to be
impossible to open without breaking--
Representative Cohen: Childproof, in essence.
Mr. Hoffman: Childproof, yes. [Laughs], and supposed to be
criminal proof as well. They--when you spin on the bottles,
they are ratcheted. You cannot spin them backward. The KGB
figured out a way to open these bottles. That was the key point
in order to be able to pull out this operation. The other one
is that the anti-doping lab exists within a secure--secure zone
of the Olympics. In order to get the clean urine that was
provided by the athletes in the summer before the Olympics into
the system, they needed to be able to get the bottles out of
the secure zone, open the lids, dump the urine, swap the urine,
put the lids back on undamaged and unscathed, pass it back into
the secure zone and back into the laboratory where it was going
to be tested the next day.
The way they did that was to literally cut a mousehole in a
wall between two rooms. One was in the secure zone; one was out
of the secure zone. They would spend all night--after those
samples came in around midnight--they would spend all night
passing Russian bottles back and forth. The athletes, who we--
when we provide the sample, we put an identifying number on so
that the lab does not know which athlete the bottle corresponds
to. The athletes were part of this system. They would take a
picture of their number and text it to the people who were
providing this operation. They would then--so they would pull
the Russian bottles, which they had the number for based on the
athlete sending the picture. They would swap the urine. Pass it
back into the mousehole, all before the anti-doping lab opened
in the morning, to replace the bottle with clean urine.
Representative Cohen: I guess there is no way to determine
the age of urine.
Mr. Hoffman: No, although we do--when we provide a sample,
we--the specific gravity of your urine, how many particles are
in it, changes over time. The specific gravity of the urine is
measured at the time we give a sample. Athletes are very
familiar with looking through a refractometer to see the
specific gravity of their urine. The urine that the athletes
provide in the summer does not necessarily match the urine
provided by the athletes at the time of competition, especially
if--I remember I had--given some samples after the 50-kilometer
race, and I am sure I was extremely dehydrated and my urine
was, like, school bus yellow. [Laughter.] In order to make the
specific gravity of the urine match up, they were either adding
distilled water or table salt to bring the specific gravity
into the range that the athletes marked on the form. Which,
again, they had because the athlete took a picture of their
form and sent it to the people who were perpetrating this.
Representative Cohen: The Russians. Better living through
chemistry. [Laughs.]
Mr. Walden, is there a way--have we found ways to end this?
Have we got better caps or better mouseholes--or mousetraps, or
whatever? [Laughter.]
Mr. Walden: Well, Chairman Cohen, first of all, I have
described this dozens of times and I have never heard a more
cogent summary of the entire process than I just heard from Mr.
Hoffman, for whatever it is worth. The answer is no. I mean,
the Russians--this is what they do, right? They have literally
invested their secret police with ways to get ahead of the
system so that they are always steps ahead. There is a specific
problem with Russia that is unique in its brazenness, but also
unique in the devotion of State resources for this purpose.
There are others--as you said, there are other countries that
have state-sponsored doping systems. It is why the U.S.
leadership on this issue is so critical to the goal of clean
athletes everywhere.
The case of Ms. Richardson is a terrible case, it is a
heartbreak case, but that is something that we should be proud
of in the sense that it is difficult to enforce the rules. It
is painful to enforce the rules. The U.S. enforces those rules
against everyone equally. When other countries start doing what
we do, we will move the world.
Representative Cohen: Well, that is true. It is something
that we are good at--should pat ourselves on the back for that
fact, but it was heartbreaking.
In your testimony you talked some, I think, about how we
maybe should change the laws to make them more--give me your
top three.
Mr. Walden: Me?
Representative Cohen: Yes, I think are not--
Mr. Walden: Yes, absolutely. Dr. Moses mentioned one that I
completely agree with, which is to amend the definition of
specified unlawful activity in the money laundering statutes to
include violations of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. That is
No. 1, No. 2, would be to modify the definition of a predicate
act of racketeering under the RICO statutes so that the
Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act could be in the litany of crimes
that would satisfy the pattern of racketeering activity.
Opening the gates of the racketeering law to these corrupt
doping networks is precise--other than the Rodchenkov Act
itself--is precisely what is needed in order to open up other
areas where we can exploit our laws to bring people to justice.
Finally, I would modify the forfeiture statutes to include--it
is done in the Rodchenkov Act, but there are other forfeiture
statutes that could be modified to include doping--organized
doping in the definitions.
Representative Cohen: Thank you. We will look into that,
and I appreciate you bringing it up. You know, just--we are--I
guess I am a little confused, to be honest. I thought the
Olympics started on Friday, and I was going to get up at, like
at five in the morning to watch the opening, you know,
whatever. They are not--but we already lost in soccer. I guess
we--so I guess they started, or we could not have lost, so the
games have started? Is that correct? Friday's not really a true
start?
Mr. Hoffman: Yes, sir. Yes, there are certain sports that
have a preliminary round that take longer than the scheduled
two weeks of the games. The--I believe the IOC rule is that no
athlete can be eliminated. Yes, the U.S. soccer team
unfortunately lost, but because its group played they are not
eliminated from the competition. No athlete can be eliminated
before the opening ceremoneys, but some of the competition has
started.
Representative Cohen: It was the ladies team that lost.
Mr. Hoffman: Yes.
Representative Cohen: If we do not distinguish gender-wise
we get in trouble.
Mr. Hoffman: The women's team lost, yes. They are favored,
you know, to win it all, I think, defending World Cup champion.
I would love to see them rebound from that loss.
Representative Cohen: Well, thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Baum, Congress provided the ONDCP the power to withhold
funding from WADA in order to secure reform. How is the
congressionally provided power to withhold funding being used
to help push for reform in WADA?
Mr. Baum: Yes, thank you for the question, Mr. Cohen. As I
mentioned--I know you were not in the room in my testimony--the
ONDCP acting director, Director LaBelle, has determined that we
would provide half the funding--just over half the funding,
$1.6 million out of the almost $2.9 million. You know, normally
we do not split the dues like this, and it was not until
Congress gave us that authority last year that we had that
ability. We believe that half of the payment is appropriate. We
think there is been some conversation within WADA about reform.
We still believe that in order to be comfortable with making
the full payment we would like to see additional steps forward.
As I know you understand, it is a difficult environment to
push reforms through. However, we expect to see some progress.
We now--we have had many conversations with WADA and WADA
stakeholders. We know that they are working toward some
reforms, and we are hopeful that some will be accomplished this
year.
Representative Cohen: Thank you, sir.
Dr. Moses, where did you go to school?
Mr. Moses: Morehouse College.
Representative Cohen: Well, you are a Morehouse man, and
that is commendable, and I know that. At track and field, and
if you are from Tennessee, we think of Tennessee State
University as being the gold standard, and did you ever have
the opportunity to meet Ms. Wilma Rudolph?
Mr. Moses: Yes. I met her and her coach as well.
Representative Cohen: Mr. Temple?
Mr. Moses: Mr. Temple, yes, and all the Tennessee
Tigerbelles, yes. I know quite a bit of them. From my first
Olympic team through my last, there were always two or three on
the Olympic team.
Representative Cohen: Yes. Well, we revere them in
Tennessee, and of course, she overcame polio, which is an
amazing story.
Mr. Moses: Yes.
Representative Cohen: Rochelle Stevens is from my hometown,
and she is great.
Mr. Moses: I used to work with Rochelle.
Representative Cohen: She is a star, and you are a star
too, I remember--so, really, with all this doping stuff, you
know, I hate to think about it. In 1960, I was all hung up on
Valeriy Brumel and, you know, beating John--
Mr. Moses: Fosbury.
Representative Cohen: Well, the Fosbury flop, and then
there was an African American who was a great--John Thomas.
Thomas was my guy. Thomas probably really won, because Brumel
was probably doped.
Mr. Moses: Yes.
Representative Cohen: It may have relief now after 60
years. My guy won.
Mr. Moses: Yes.
Representative Cohen: Thank each of you for appearing and
what you have done. We will try to come up with additional and
better improvements to our laws. Hopefully, we will have a
fairly clean Olympics. Hopefully, we will have an Olympics, and
with that, I guess the meeting is adjourned. [Sounds gavel.]
[Whereupon, at 3:55 p.m., the hearing ended.]
[all]
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