Controversial Hillary Clinton donor and fundraiser goes bust
Fraud and lies continue to follow the Clintons.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’s worth went from $4.5 billion to zero in a year after officials found her company failed at blood testing.
Holmes founded the company in 2003 “with plans of revolutionizing the diagnostic test market.” President Barack Obama named her as an ambassador for global entrepreneurship while the Clinton family propped her up at their Clinton Global initiative meeting last year.
But Forbes has found that her stake in the company equals absolutely nothing. The company has faced “allegations that its tests are inaccurate” and investigations from government agencies. Plus their annual revenues equal less than $100 million.
In March, Holmes wanted to host a fundraiser for Clinton for $2,700 a person at the company’s headquarters. But Clinton’s campaign received criticism “for holding an event at the offices of a company under federal investigation.” Holmes still hosted alongside Chelsea Clinton.
Here's Chelsea Clinton w/ Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, at the campaign's San Francisco fundraiser today: pic.twitter.com/YHvY4HH2QP
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) March 21, 2016
But now an official invitation to the event, obtained by CNBC, shows that the Clinton fundraiser will not be held at the company’s offices, but instead at the private home of Susie Hwang and Matt Glickman in Palo Alto. Holmes is listed first on a list of 11 female Silicon Valley figures hosting the event. According to the invitation, hosts contribute or raise $2,700 for Hillary for America presidential campaign, and attend a reception with the former first daughter.
The Wall Street Journal found that Theranos only used “a small fraction of the tests then sold to consumers” even though the website said they offer 240 tests. The company received over $400 million, which pushed the company to $9 billion.
One employee said Theranos used a device called Edison for 15 tests, but many employees doubted the accuracy of the machine. Another employee “accused the company of failing to report test results that raised questions about the precision of the Edison system.” This violates federal rules.
Last November, Chris Jennings, who remained a “longtime advisor to both Bill and Hillary Clinton on health care issues that is currently advising Clinton’s presidential campaign,” also advised Theranos. After Bill’s presidency, Jennings became a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry where he earned millions.
Obama also hired him to “coordinate health reform for the White House despite his decade of lobbying.” He resigned after six months and returned to his firm.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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“But Clinton’s campaign received criticism ‘for holding an event at the offices of a company under federal investigation.’”
That criticism seems so misplaced. Having Clinton there would simply have been a matched set. Federally investigated candidate appears at HQs of federally investigated company.
Look at the Board of Directors.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Senators Sam Nunn and Bill Frist (who, it should be noted, is a surgeon), former Navy Admiral Gary Roughead, former Marine Corps General James Mattis, and former CEOs Dick Kovacevich of Wells Fargo and Riley Bechtel of Bechtel.
None of these have tech/medical/Walgreens-pharmacy experience but they are a who’s who of ruling class elites.
Even the founder, a Stanford freshman(woman) with no medical/math background didn’t invent anything, just came up with an idea for an invention that her engineer (who committed suicide) couldn’t make work.
The whole thing may have been a scam to enrich the ruling class from the get-go.
Reading up on General Mattis it seems he wanted this medical equipment in the field asap because of his belief that it would help his men. Does he have medical or clinical experience? No. He believed the hype unfortunately and thought the delay by the DOD was classic military procurement foot dragging. He did the wise thing and got legal counsel from the DOD about working for the company. Still with the belief that the technology that was being presented was an actual game changer and not snake oil he joined the board but would not represent the company to the DOD or DON. And yes the road to hell is paved with good intentions. With technology today it’s hard to tell what is legit and what is smoke.
It is not so hard. You ask for experimental results.
They had plenty of results, albeit for one specific test, but plenty of results. This is a corporation that fooled a lot of donors and much of the industry, with a smoke cover thrown in for good measure from the press. It just seems for the past 20 plus years most of these companies are rewrites of the movie The Sting. Pipe dream company with plenty of window dressing gets every one to throw their money ay it hoping to make a huge profit like the early Apple investors. Get some media buzz and politicians flying cover, maybe even some federal grants or unsecured loans. Live like a king blow the company up, sell it off the the highest bidder or auction off everything and stiff the government. Then use that as a springboard to your next board of directors job with the promise of making at least the board very rich.
solyndra comes to mind
Actually military officers are barred for life from representing companies during the procurement process.
Theranos opened in a couple of Walgreens pharmacies in the Phoenix area in late 2013 to moderate fanfare. Despite initial claims to be doing ‘most’ of their testing (a limited menu at the time) using the Nanotainer technology with ‘the rest to follow,’ it turns out they were reportedly doing only 1 analysis using it, using conventional technology for everything else (or subbing out to other labs) & doing conventional venipuncture to obtain specimens. They now have drawing stations in about 40 area Walgreens, have since built their own lab facility and operate just like any other commercial clinical lab, accepting only conventional specimens.
If the nanotechnology were legitimate & reliable, I think we’d know by now. I also doubt the investors were expecting their money to fund a conventional commercial lab operation.
A small (maybe large?) local twist –
Theranos just happened to be a beneficiary of legislation passed in Arizona last summer & signed by Governor Ducey which eliminated the need for a doctor’s order for lab tests. Any one can now go to a lab and request any test they want. As luck would have it, Theranos was already in nearly 40 high-traffic Walgreens and well-positioned to take advantage of the new law. Holmes was even in Phoenix for the law’s signing and Ducey credited Theranos as a prime mover in getting the law passed.
I personally have no issue with the law, but the existing commercial labs have declined to do testing without an order, except for a few tests which prior legislation and required them to do on demand – cholesterol, glycohemoglobin & PSA, perhaps a couple of others. The new law permits but does not require labs to run any & all tests requested. And insurance companies are not required to pay for self-ordered tests.
I read the CMS report. Not only did they use “conventional” methods instead of the Edison, they did not follow acceptable lab practices. Their quality control violations were gob-smacking. No one running the tests had a bloody clue as to what they were doing. GIGO, if you got you blood tested by this place, throw the results right in the trash where they belong.
Fraud in the medical industry perpetrated by Democrats? Why, I’ve never heard of such a thing before…
Maybe they should change the company name to Thanatos the Greek representation of death. The company’s fiances and clout appear to be in a death spiral.
My God, is there ANYTHING AT ALL connected with the Clintons that is not a scam and a fraud? Other than their rapacious greed and drive for power?
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, where there’s Clintons, there’s corruption.
To paraphrase Serpenthead Carville…
“It’s the corruption, stupid”
He is one creepy guy!