Paid interim Chief Legal Officer for Theranos Elizabeth Holmes filed a letter in federal court last week that revealed she would not testify at the Defense Department’s fraud trial against Theranos, and would present her case “through written testimony.”
She acknowledges that this is a change in her position from July, when she made an appearance in court at a pretrial hearing in the case. In that document she had said that she had to be away for “personal considerations.”
I reached out to Holmes to comment on the letter and what it really means.
I wrote Holmes on Friday for a comment about the letter, and I called her again this morning to check in on how she was feeling. According to her, she was giving up the privilege of appearing at trial and is calling her statement a change in position:
“After we reviewed the previous answer which I gave you in response to your question about my testimony, Theranos was pleased that you were aware that I did not consider it appropriate to appear at the trial, and as a result, had decided against such a move. Since that initial answer I have disagreed with your summary of my account of the meeting. My examination of the various witnesses in the case – as well as our deliberation regarding whether to proceed or not – necessitated that we take some time to consider the current circumstances. On Wednesday morning, September 20, 2017, with the case scheduled to begin the following Monday, Theranos retained financial counsel of its own. I called Ms. Khourieh and advised her that I would no longer be able to travel to California for the trial or otherwise testify on June 1, 2018. Theranos and I both agreed that my testimony should remain confidential. My deposition would be saved and filed with the court with that information. For purposes of this letter, I offer to testify on the matters of trial.”
This is not the end of the battle. This is the beginning.
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