Trumpian Words From Shkreli as Jury Starts Deliberating

'Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA,' he wrote on Facebook
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 31, 2017 7:50 AM CDT
Jury Debates Martin Shkreli's Fate Monday
Martin Shkreli, right, leaves federal court with a member of his legal team on Thursday in New York.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

He's been painted as both "brilliant beyond words" and a conman during his securities fraud trial—and on Monday, the jury considering Martin Shkreli's case will start deliberations on whether "inmate" will be added to that list of descriptors, reports the Guardian. Closing arguments took place Friday, notes the AP, with prosecutors alleging that Shkreli took money from his drug company to pay back his upset hedge-fund investors; Shkreli's defense team has maintained that everyone involved made money, so no harm, no foul.

The 34-year-old, who was arrested in December 2015, could face up to 20 years in prison. On Thursday, Shkreli posted on Facebook that his trial was a "silly witch hunt perpetrated by self-serving prosecutors" before pulling out a couple of phrases often used by President Trump, who the Guardian notes is one of Shkreli's idols. "Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA," Shkreli wrote. (More Martin Shkreli stories.)

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