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The rest of the affidavit, which draws on the confessions signed by Eckardt, Stant and Smith, lays out a series of verbal and money transactions that implicate Gillooly but not Harding. All three co-conspirators say they met with Gillooly in Portland in late December; two of them say a price of $6,500 was set for Stant and Smith to injure Kerrigan. Eckardt and Smith concur that Smith was paid $2,000 on the spot, with bills supplied by Gillooly. Gillooly's bank records indicate that he made three withdrawals totaling $9,000 between Dec. 27 and Jan. 6. Western Union records show that on Jan. 5 and 6 Eckardt wired two payments to Smith. Investigators are trying to determine if any of the money drawn from Gillooly's account was provided by Harding. So far, the trail seems to be cold, save for Eckardt's claim in the Oregonian that Gillooly offered to pay Stant and Smith a bonus to get the job done -- showing them a $10,000 USFSA check in his wallet.
Amid the controversy, sympathetic portraits of Harding emerged. CBS's 60 Minutes broadcast eight-year-old video footage that showed her difficulties with her mother LaVona. But within the skating world, Harding's plight has not been greeted with universal sympathy -- and she has largely herself to blame. For years, she has played a Jekyll-and-Hyde game that has earned her more detractors than fans. People who publicly say they believe Harding is now telling the truth add, sotto voce, that she has long had a reputation for lying.
USFSA and Olympic officials hope that a grand jury impaneled last week in Oregon will move swiftly to determine whether Harding is to be charged or not. But the panel is not required to submit its report until three days after the U.S. team must be named. And an indictment is not a conviction, so even if charged, Harding will still have a strong case to compete in the Games. (She has legal precedent on her side. U.S. sprinter Butch Reynolds was barred from competing in the last Olympics after failing a 1990 drug test that he claimed was flawed; when a court upheld his claim, Reynolds won a $27.3 million judgment.)
If Harding makes it to Lillehammer, she is likely to meet up again with Kerrigan. Last week the injured skater showed signs of rapid recovery, successfully running through her routines, albeit with minor jumping adjustments. Then Kerrigan took off for California to shoot a Reebok commercial -- just the sort of lucrative deal Harding dreams of.