|
 A lawyer for Shkreli informed the U.S. House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform of his intent not to answer questions and
asked that he be excused from appearing, committee chairman Jason
Chaffetz wrote in the letter dated Wednesday.
The plan to remain silent contrasts with Shkreli's prolific use of
social media, where he has been outspoken on Twitter and livestream
video even after his indictment last month on criminal charges of
securities fraud.
The Oversight Committee subpoenaed Shkreli to appear on Tuesday to
discuss his decision as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals to
raise the price of a life-saving medicine, Daraprim, by more than
5,000 percent.
Shkreli, 32, has said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination. On Twitter, he told followers it was
"disgusting and insulting" for lawmakers to try to subvert that
right.
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says that no person
shall be compelled in any criminal case "to be a witness against
himself."
The dispute appeared likely to end in one of two ways: with Shkreli
appearing in Washington on Tuesday to invoke that right, or with
Shkreli staying home in New York, prompting the committee to vote to
hold him in contempt and setting off a potential criminal
prosecution.
Shkreli resigned as chief executive officer of Turing last month
after his arrest on the fraud charges. Turing had acquired Daraprim,
a 62-year-old drug, and caused a public furor when it drastically
increased the price.
Fights over congressional testimony are common, especially when
potential witnesses are facing criminal prosecution and their
testimony could later be used against them.
Some well-known witnesses, such as former IRS official Lois Lerner
and former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, refused to
answer questions from Congress but were required to appear in person
in front of lawmakers and cameras before invoking that right.
It was unclear on Thursday whether Shkreli would make the trip to do
the same. His release on bond restricts him to certain parts of New
York state, and he is required to ask a judge for a waiver to
travel.
One of Shkreli's lawyers has informed the Oversight Committee that
Shkreli has taken no steps to seek a travel waiver, said Rep. Elijah
Cummings of Maryland, the committee's top Democrat.
"If he plans on trying to use his own intentional inaction as some
kind of bogus excuse for not showing up at Tuesday's hearing, people
will see right through such a juvenile tactic," Cummings said in a
statement on Thursday.
[to top of second column] |
Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, warned in his letter to Shkreli defense
attorney Baruch Weiss that Shkreli could face criminal prosecution
for contempt if he fails to appear.
"Mr. Shkreli is uniquely qualified to answer questions about rising
prescription drug prices," Chaffetz wrote.
The threat of prosecution is more than theoretical. In 1952, mobster
Frank Costello was convicted of contempt of Congress for failing to
appear as a witness when he said he had laryngitis.
Chaffetz in his letter held out the possibility of a compromise,
writing that the committee may agree to hear testimony in a
non-public session or to immunize the testimony so that it could not
be used in the criminal prosecution. Immunizing the testimony,
though, would require the support of two-thirds of the committee.
Complicating the dispute is Shkreli's decision this week to seek new
lawyers, replacing a team from the law firm Arnold & Porter with
others still to be named.
The criminal charges against Shkreli stem from his prior management
of hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and biopharmaceutical company
Retrophin Inc.
Prosecutors said Shkreli engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme, defrauding
hedge fund investors and then misappropriating $11 million in assets
from Retrophin to repay them.
Shkreli, who was also until recently chief executive of KaloBios
Pharmaceuticals Inc has pleaded not guilty, and on Twitter has
called the allegations "baseless and without merit."
(Reporting by Nate Raymond and David Ingram; editing by Andrew Hay,
Jeffrey Benkoe, Noeleen Walder and Bernard Orr)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
