Elizabeth Holmes put the reporter who broke the Theranos story on her witness checklist. His attorneys are calling it a ‘ruse’

CNN
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Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John Carreyrou is chargeable for breaking open the story of Theranos six years in the past, prompting broader scrutiny into blood testing startup that will land its CEO and founder Elizabeth Holmes in a federal courtroom over felony fraud costs.

Perplexingly, Carreyrou’s identify is amongst dozens of attainable witnesses Holmes might name to testify, though he’s but to be subpoenaed. In a courtroom submitting Friday, his attorneys say “it remains entirely unclear whether or why Holmes would actually want to call Carreyrou to the stand,” they usually’re chalking it as much as a “ruse” to maintain Carreyrou from overlaying the story by means of his podcast.

Holmes has refused to take away him as a attainable witness or, alternatively, to exempt him from the exclusion and gag orders that will apply to sure witnesses, in response to the submitting. This, in response to his attorneys, is an try and doubtlessly hold the journalist out of the courtroom and from reporting firsthand on the high-profile case alongside different media.

Now, his attorneys need the courtroom to clarify that, if he’s subpoenaed, the exclusion order (which prevents some witnesses from being inside the courtroom throughout different witness testimonies), or the gag order (which precludes them from talking about their testimonies past their attorneys), wouldn’t apply to Carreyrou.

His attorneys are asking the courtroom to think about his First Amendment rights to cowl the trial, in addition to for readability on what testimony could also be sought if he’s known as as a witness. An lawyer for Holmes didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Carreyrou’s investigative reporting whereas at The Wall Street Journal uncovered important flaws in the firm’s purported revolutionary blood testing expertise and capabilities that contradicted claims made by Holmes and Theranos. The firm would stop operations lower than three years later.

Holmes now faces a dozen counts of federal fraud and conspiracy costs, and as much as 20 years in jail over allegations that she supposed to mislead traders, sufferers and medical doctors about the capabilities of her firm and its proprietary blood testing expertise in an effort to take their cash. She has pleaded not responsible.

Carreyrou went on to write a critically-acclaimed e book “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” primarily based on his reporting and is presently internet hosting a podcast known as “Bad Blood: The Final Chapter” dedicated to the trial.

A pre-trial courtroom order decided that reality witnesses — or these known as to confirm related information, versus knowledgeable witnesses — would face exclusion and gag orders except granted exceptions. Carreyrou’s attorneys argue he isn’t “an appropriate fact witness for this trial.”

“Aside from being harassed and threatened for his journalistic efforts, he is not an alleged victim of Theranos, Holmes or [Ramesh “Sunny”] Balwani,” the submitting reads. (Balwani is a former Theranos govt and Holmes’ ex-boyfriend, who will face the similar costs in a separate trial. He has pleaded not responsible.)

Professor Jessica Roth of Cardozo Law School informed CNN Business the undeniable fact that Carreyrou has but to be subpoenaed “suggests that the defense does not have a firm intention to call him.”

“While I don’t wish to conjecture about the defense’s motives to try to play out the plausible reasons for him being on the witness list, it is hard to identify how he is helpful and useful as a witness for the defense,” Roth mentioned, including that “one is just left to wonder what is the rationale for him being on the witness list.”

In an interview with CNN Business forward of the trial, Carreyrou mentioned he’d “make a great witness for the prosecution and a terrible one for the defense.”

George Demos, a former Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutor and adjunct legislation professor at the UC Davis School of Law, known as it “a classic intimidation tactic designed to muzzle Carreyrou, who continues to uncover incriminating evidence.”

“Holmes has shown no qualms in the past about deploying aggressive legal tactics and certainly silencing a tenacious journalist is consistent with this strategy,” he mentioned. (Carreyrou, throughout the course of his earlier reporting, was threatened with authorized motion by Theranos.)

Even if Carreyrou have been to be subpoenaed, his attorneys mentioned in the submitting that, “there is a public interest in Carreyrou’s reporting on his podcast, which is very popular, and it should not be stymied because of any maneuvers by Holmes. Holmes’s tactic is an extension of a bad faith desire to harass Carreyrou and infringe on his First Amendment rights and privileges.”

Roth of Cardozo Law School mentioned this newest growth is “an additional manifestation of the unusual role that the media is playing in this case.”

“The media helped build her up. The media was, in a sense, used to perpetuate the fraud that’s been alleged. The media helped bring her down,” she mentioned. “We continue to have this unusual, central role played by the media now playing out in the context of the trial itself.”