'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli touted conspiracies about Hillary Clinton's body count, placed bounty on her head
Is there anyone that 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli has not managed to antagonize at this point? The man who has earned the moniker of 'the most hated man in America' is a household name for all the wrong reasons, from lying and defrauding investors, harassing his people on social media, inflating the price of a life-saving drug by 5000% overnight and showing no remorse for it whatsoever, and then trying to run his company from behind bars as a "shadow CEO."
However, it is likely that Shkreli, who was charged and convicted in federal court on two counts of securities fraud and count of conspiring to commit securities fraud, would have escaped with minimal jail time if he hadn't touted conspiracies about former First Lady, Senator, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and put a bounty on her head.
The pharmaceutical executive had been free on a $5 million bail and awaiting sentencing for his convictions in 2017 when he made two Facebook posts offering cash to anyone who could "grab a hair" from Clinton during her book tour.
"The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets," he wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post. "So on HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her. I must confirm the sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton."
In another deleted post, he wrote, "Hillary Clinton? More like Killary Clinton, amirite? How many in her body count now?" He also posted a mocked-up image of her that was edited to look like she was a lizard.
If any of those sound familiar, it's because they have all been making the rounds in social media recently following the release of explosive court documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking scandal. Bill Clinton, the former president, and Clinton's husband had been named in these documents.
It led to thousands, including current President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., bringing up the "Killary Clinton" in reference to conspiracies that she and Bill had been involved in Epstein's suspicious "suicide" to protect themselves from culpability for their involvement in his sex-trafficking ring.
While Shkreli, who seems to have targeted Clinton after taking exception to her criticisms of him on her presidential campaign trail, was ahead of the curve in that regard, the post did not sit well with prosecutors who requested that his bail be revoked and called for the Secret Service to investigate him.
After it became viral, he edited it to say "this is satire, meant for humor" but shot himself in the foot again after uploading another post that read, "$5,000 but the hair has to include a follicle. Do not assault anyone for any reason ever (LOLIBERALS).”
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, argued at his hearing at the Federal District Court in Brooklyn his client was not violent and that the post had been a "momentary lapse in judgment." He said Shkreli deserved another chance because "stupid doesn't make you violent" and that the posts had only shown "immaturity, satire, a warped sense of humor.”
Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto had none of it. She said his post could be perceived as a legitimate threat because Shkreli did not know who his followers were and there was a "risk someone may take" him up on his offer. "That is a solicitation to assault in exchange for money that is not protected by the First Amendment," she told him.
While he later apologized, Matsumoto had already made up her mind to jail him. "He doesn’t have to apologize to me," she said. "He should apologize to the government, the Secret Service, and Hillary Clinton."
Shkreli's story will be the subject of an episode of CNBC's 'American Greed: Biggest Cons' that is scheduled to premiere on the network on Monday, August 10, at 10 pm ET/PT.