Martin Shkreli Pleads The Fifth, Smirks At Congress

Martin Shkreli appeared before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday for a hearing on prescription drug prices, but his testimony didn’t really go anywhere.

You may remember that Shkreli, the founder and former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, became infamous past year.

Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressed their outrage during the hearing, with Maryland’s Elijah Cummings lecturing Shkreli on Turing’s behavior, which included a decision to increase the price of a life-saving pill to $750 each from $13.50. What do you say to her when she has to make those choices?

Martin Shkreli was removed from a congressional hearing on Thursday after citing his Fifth Amendment right to stay silent. The so-called “pharma bro”, notorious for jacking up the price of a drug needed by victims of infectious disease by 5,000 percent, invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer any of the substantive questions put to him.

After the brief appearance, Shkreli’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman told reporters his client had been laughing because he was nervous and had meant no disrespect.

Moments after refusing to testify, Shkreli then called members of the US Congress “imbeciles” on Twitter.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) told Shkreli he can answer some of the questions.

Shkreli is now under indictment for securities fraud.

None of the appeals moved Shkreli, who snarked back at Gowdy, “I intend to follow the advice of counsel, not yours”.

He was out on $5 million bail after being arrested in NY this December. Shkreli started Turing Pharmaceuticals after he left Retrophin.

“I think they invited him just to embarrass him”, he said, comparing his position to that of Robert Duvall’s character in “The Godfather: Part II”. “It’s called supply-demand. I got the supply and all you [expletive deleted] with HIV, you got the demand”, he said in one YouTube video from last September.

Shkreli pleaded the Fifth throughout the hearing.

“Well, Mr. Chairman, I am vexed”, Gowdy said, pointing to Shkreli’s readiness to talk to the press, but not to Congress.

Shkreli records himself on a live stream in his apartment, talking about various topics such as dating websites and the Wu-Tang Clan, whose one copy of one of their albums Shkreli purchased for $2 million.

The two companies’ executives argue that commitment is to ensuring that cost isn’t a deterrent for patients who need the drugs.

“I know you’re smiling”, Cummings added, “but I’m very serious, sir”. “All I ask is that you reflect on it. No, I don’t ask, I beg that you reflect on it”.

Furthermore, the former hedge fund manager appeared to be smirking at lawmakers, which prompted his removal from the hearing.