Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli kept a smirk on his face Thursday while testifying before the House Oversight Committee, where he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to decline to respond to the legislators’ inquiries.
CNN reported that Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) told Shkreli, who’d hiked up the price of a life-saving drug while at Turing, that his actions were like a “Ponzi scheme.” Shkreli reportedly kept smirking and played with his pencil, refusing to answer questions.
The one line he repeatedly offered legislators was: “On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and respectfully decline to answer your question.”
The House committee subpoenaed Shkreli as part of its investigation of several pharmaceutical companies for price-gouging. Shkreli has also been indicted and released on bail on securities fraud charges, unrelated to his price increase on the medicine.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) also asked Shkreli about his purchase of a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album for $2 million. Gowdy tried to goad Shkreli into answering his inquires, noting Shkreli wasn’t shy about sharing information on Twitter and on “that little web cam he’s got.”
“This is a great opportunity if you want to educate the members of Congress about drug pricing, or what you call the fictitious case against you,” Gowdy said. “We can even talk about the purchase of the—what is it—Wu-Tang Clan, is that the name of the album? The name of the group?”
Shkreli pleaded the fifth again.
Gowdy said he was “stunned” by Shkreli’s claim that his album purchase could subject him to incrimination.
Shkreli called the legislators “imbeciles” on Twitter after he took part in the hearing:
Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 4, 2016
I had prior counsel produce a memo on facial expressions during congressional testimony if anyone wants to see it. Interesting precedence.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 4, 2016
Here’s video of his exchange with Gowdy:
WATCH: @TGowdySC asks @MartinShkreli about @WuTangClan album. Full video here: https://t.co/fUOgjX0JSghttps://t.co/Zk3yYqSoTQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 4, 2016
This post has been updated.
