WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has asked a U.S. judge to decide a more than $100 million lawsuit against him by the federal government without holding a jury trial.
The motion seeking a summary judgment in Washington's U.S. District Court is part of a 2013 U.S. government lawsuit against Armstrong. The suit argues that Armstrong's team breached its Postal Service sponsorship contract by doping and made false statements to continue payment.
Armstrong's lawyer, Elliot Peters, said the Postal Service had gotten a "windfall" through sponsoring the team and Armstrong had settled every legitimate claim against him.
"This lawsuit is pure grandstanding and hypocrisy. We hope and believe the Court will see that and be willing to pull the plug," Peters said in a statement.
The 59-page motion was filed on Wednesday. The government also filed a motion for partial summary judgment on Wednesday.
Armstrong's lawyers argue that he did not have a direct contract with the Postal Service. The sponsorship contracts were with Tailwind Sports, the company that owned the cycling team before dissolving in 2007.
Court papers submitted by Armstrong's lawyers in 2014 show the government has been seeking more than $105 million from Armstrong, Tailwind and former team manager Johan Bruyneel.
That sum reflects triple damages under the False Claims Act.
Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and banned for life from racing in 2012 by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after it accused him in a report of engineering one of the most sophisticated doping schemes in sports.