What are some of your proudest achievements from the past year? When I commenced my representation of Dr. Rodchenkov, I never could have imagined that his mission to expose the truth about Russia’s endemic corruption would metamorphosize into a global movement that would not only capture the attention of Congress, but also mobilize our own lawmakers to act. I thought I could not have been more honored when the Helsinki Commission invited me to author The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, but when the bill passed unanimously through the House and the Senate Commerce Committee, it was a deeply gratifying and humbling moment.

What, if any, obstacles stood in the way of your innovation, and how did you overcome them? After The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act passed a unanimous vote in the House of Representatives in October, we were filled with hope that the legislation and the critical anti-corruption reforms it would bring could become a reality. But we quickly realized that we needed to mobilize high-level bipartisan support for the bill in the Senate. News reports also surfaced confirming that certain actors with vested interests in the multibillion dollar international sports industry were descending on Capitol Hill to derail our anti-corruption efforts. I sensed a potential crisis on the horizon and convened a meeting of our brains trust, including the Helsinki Commission, athletes rights organizations including FairSport and Global Athlete, the U.S. Anti-Doping agency and media experts. We decided to take a proactive approach. We made our team of experts available to brief members of the Senate and the media on all aspects of the doping fraud, from the failure of the existing sports governance framework to the pernicious forms of criminality spawned by doping fraud conspiracies. By February, we had organically amassed eight prestigious Senate sponsors for the bill, including Senators Wicker, Cardin, Blumenthal, Moran, Rubio, Warner and Whitehouse, hailing equally from both sides of the aisle.

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