Sentence:  Indeed, part of the problem was that Armstrong was rowing back on so much previous behaviour and years of aggressive <WSD>lambasting</WSD> of reporters, officials and team-mates who had claimed he was doping. "I don't forgive Lance Armstrong, who lied to me in two interviews. And I suspect most of America won't, either," Kurtz wrote. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To scold, reprimand or criticize harshly.