A smirking Martin Shkreli refused to answer questions during an appearance before Congress on drug prices Thursday morning.
Shkreli, the controversial former pharmaceutical company CEO now facing federal fraud charges, was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee for a hearing on prescription drug charges.
You can watch video of his appearance above.
The 32-year-old Brooklyn native declined to give an opening statement and then answered the first question by saying, “on the advice of counsel I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination and respectfully decline to ask your question.”
He had been asked by Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz what he would say to a pregnant, low-income woman possibly with AIDS who needed the drug Shkreli’s company made.
Shkreli’s company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, purchased the rights to the drug Daraprim, which is used to treat a rare parasitic infection that targets pregnant women and AIDS and cancer patients. The 60-year-old drug’s price was hiked from $13.50 a tablet to $750 overnight, sparking outrage earlier this year.
Martin Shkreli listens during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill February 4, 2016. (Getty)
At one point, Chaffetz asked Shkreli if he thinks he did anything wrong.
Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy asked Shkreli if he was pronouncing his name properly and Shkreli responded “yes sir.” Gowdy replied, “see you can answer some questions, that one didn’t incriminate you.”
Gowdy told Shkreli he could answer some questions without incriminating himself, and Shkreli said, “I intend to follow the advice of my counsel, not yours.”
Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, chastised Shkreli for smirking during the hearing.
“I want to ask you, no I want to plead with you to use any remaining influence you have over your former company to press them to lower the price of the drugs,” Cummings said, as Shkreli looked away. “You can look away if you’d like, but I wish you could see the faces of people … who cannot get the drugs that they need.”
“I know you’re smiling but I’m very serious sir,” Cummings said. “The way I see it you could go down in history as the poster boy for greedy drug company executives, or you can change the system. Yeah, you.”
(Getty)
Shkreli was arrested on December 17, 2015, on federal fraud charges.
He is accused of using money from another drug company he ran, Retrophin, to pay off debts owed by his failed hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, Bloomberg Business reports. His attorney, Evan Greebel, was also arrested.
Shkreli is currently free on $5 million bail.
