Dive Brief:
- U.S. Distrcit Judge Kiyo Matsumoto has amended the terms of Martin Shkreli's bail to allow him to travel to DC in order to attend a Congressional hearing on drug pricing.
- Shkreli was arrested in December 2015 for securities fraud and subsequently released on $5 million bail. Under the terms of his bail, Shkreli was barred from leaving the eastern and southern districts of New York.
- The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had subpoenaed Shkreli to testify related to his time as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Originally scheduled to take place this week, the hearing has been delayed due to the major East Coast snow storm.
Dive Insight:
Shkreli has stated on Twitter he will plead the Fifth Amendment when he attends the House hearing, in order to avoid incriminating himself in his unrelated securities fraud case. In social media postings, Shkreli has expressed derisive contempt towards the hearing and the efforts of legislators to get him to testify.
Tweeting at Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Shkreli said "You want me to go to DC to just say 'I plead the 5th'? For your entertainment?"
US ATTNY MANUAL 9-11.154. You want me to go to DC to to just say "I plead the 5th"? For your entertainment? @jasoninthehouse @RepCummings
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) January 22, 2016
The hearing was scheduled for the 26th, but has been postponed to Feburary 4 because of the recent snowstorm.
Legislators on the Committee have also asked the interim CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals to testify at the same hearing, along with an official from the FDA and the President of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.