Lance Armstrong on biography: what the evidence says · JRE #737
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHY
The short answer
Armstrong states that Bob Braudis, Hunter S. Thompson's close friend, served as Pitkin County sheriff for 26 years. The specific figure is off. Washington University's Common Reader, reporting from direct phone interviews with Braudis, states twice that he served as sheriff from 1986 to 2010, a tenure of roughly 24 years rather than the 26 Armstrong cites.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
his best friend was was our longtime sheriff he was the sheriff for 26 years bob browdus who's a great friend of mine
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The substance of Armstrong's statement holds: Bob Braudis was a close friend of Hunter S. Thompson and was the longtime sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado. The specific figure is off. Washington University's Common Reader, reporting from direct phone interviews with Braudis, states twice that he served as sheriff from 1986 to 2010, a tenure of roughly 24 years rather than the 26 Armstrong cites. The same piece describes Braudis as a young deputy under sheriff Dick Keinast who had helped on Thompson's 1970 'Freak Power' campaign, and quotes him on how he carried Thompson's policing philosophy into the office once elected. Coverage of Braudis's tenure and 2022 death otherwise sits almost entirely in Colorado regional press that falls outside the approved source list, so the 1986 to 2010 span rests on the single allowlisted account above.