Members of Congress send scathing letter to WADA over probe to find leaker in Chinese swimmer case

A bipartisan group in Congress sent a letter Thursday to the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency criticizing that group for opening an assessment into who leaked information that led to the agency clearing Chinese swimmers after they tested positive for performance enhancers before the Olympics in While WADA declares that their motivations are innocent it appears this inspection s intent is to intimidate and suppress whistleblowers noted the letter sent to WADA president Witold Banka a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press If these accusations are accurate WADA is not defending clean sport but is continuing to defend a cover-up WADA proven earlier this year it had launched Operation Puncture to learn about the leak and what motivated it but denied it was looking for the person who blew the whistle The letter from Sens Marsha Blackburn and Chris Van Hollen and Reps John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi is the latest in a yearslong string of hostility between WADA and the U S administration which has cut off its annual payments to the drug-fighting organization demanding more transparency WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald offered a three-paragraph response outlining the history of the event and stating that while he did not have information about Operation Puncture being conducted by the WADA Intelligence and Investigations department I can state that WADA I I is not chasing whistleblowers but rather it is seeking to find out how the leak happened and what was the real motivation behind it About the cases themselves Fitzgerald noted Politically motivated statements of a cover-up were made without evidence and have ultimately been proven to be entirely false The letter comes at a critical juncture for international sports in the U S with the World Cup coming next year and the Summer Olympics taking place in Los Angeles in In U S bureaucrats opened an analysis into the Chinese swimmers incident which has led to speculation that WADA administrators are reluctant to come to the United States worried they will be subject to subpoenas The letter asks Banka to answer a series of questions including whether WADA will release all internal communications related to the swimmers incident and the ensuing Operation Puncture WADA commissioned its own description on the handling of the Chinese swimmers episode that concluded it was reasonable that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency s explanation that the positives came from contamination That analysis has been widely questioned by critics who would like to see more documentation and information about the event Source