This is now officially a thing. As reported on Thursday, the infamous so-called "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli offered to pay his social media followers thousands of dollars for a lock of Hillary Clinton's hair (specifically $5,000 per strand). Now it looks like he may pay a hefty price for this bizarre request.
Federal prosecutors want to revoke Shkreli's bail as a result of his harassment against Clinton, according to The Washington Post. Shkreli is currently out on a $5 million bond after his conviction for securities fraud, but following this essentially violent, illegal request, it could be revoked.
In their letter to U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, federal prosecutors claimed that "Shkreli has engaged in an escalating pattern of threats and harassment that warrant his detention pending sentencing. The Court should further find that there is no condition or combination of conditions to which the defendant will abide that will ensure that he does not pose a danger to the community."
Prosecutors also noted that Shkreli's hostility toward Clinton preceded the hair collecting incident. At one point, when Clinton visited her daughter Chelsea while she was sick, prosecutors claim Shkreli "spent approximately two hours live-streaming while providing commentary and heckling Secretary Clinton."
By contrast, Shkreli's attorney Benjamin Brafman said in a statement that "however inappropriate some of Mr Shkreli’s postings may have been, we do not believe that he intended harm and do not believe that he poses a danger to the community. We will address the Government’s request in a letter we will be filing with the court tomorrow. We take the matter seriously and intend to address the issue responsibly."
In Shkreli's original Facebook post (which has since been deleted), he said that "the Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets. So on [Hillary Clinton’s] book tour, try to grab a hair from her. I must confirm the [DNA] sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton. Payment after the sequence matches. Good luck, patrollers."
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