New York AG pushing for lifetime Trump ban cites Martin Shkreli ruling

What
does
former
President

Donald
Trump
have
in
common
with
“Pharma
bro”

Martin
Shkreli?

A
penchant
for
harshly

trolling
their
enemies
online
and
an
attorney
general
who
wants
both
of
them
banned
for

life
from
their
preferred
business.

New
York
Attorney
General
Letitia
James’s
office
on
Tuesday
notified
the
judge
who
presided
over
Trump’s
civil
business
fraud
trial
about
a
new
appeals
court
ruling
against
Shkreli,
which
the
AG
says
supports
its
bid
to
permanently
bar
Trump
from
the
state’s
real
estate
industry.

In
its
ruling,
the
2nd
U.S.
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals
upheld
a
lower
New
York
federal
court’s
order
banning
Shkreli
for
life
from
the
pharmaceuticals
industry
because
of
his
efforts
to
block
competition
to
a
drug
he
hiked
the
price
of
by
more
than
4,000%
overnight
in
2015.

The
ruling
stemmed
from
an
antitrust
lawsuit
James,
the
Federal
Trade
Commission,
and
six
other
states
filed
against
Shkreli.

James
is
currently
suing
Trump
in
Manhattan
state
Supreme
Court,
alleging
widespread,
sustained
fraud
in
how
the
former
president,
his
company,
and
his
two
adult
sons
valued
real
estate
assets
to
obtain
more
favorable
loan
terms.

James,
in
that
case,
asked
Judge
Arthur
Engoron
to
ban
Trump
for
life
from
the
New
York
real
estate
industry
and
to
bar
his
sons,
Donald
Trump
Jr.
and
Eric
Trump,
from
that
sector
for
five
years,
along
with
fining
them
$360
million.

Engoron
recently
finished
presiding
over
the
trial
in
that
case
but
has
yet
to
issue
a
final
ruling.

In
a
letter
Tuesday
to
Engoron,
Assistant
Attorney
General
Colleen
Faherty
said,
“We
write
to
provide
the
Court
with
notice
of
supplemental
authority:
the
recent
Second
Circuit
decision
in
Fed.
Trade
Comm’n
v.
Shkreli.”

Faherty
noted
that
the
AG’s
closing
trial
presentation
cited
the
2022
Manhattan
federal
court
judge’s
order
banning
Shkreli
from
the
drug
business
as
a
case
that
supports
the
call
for
a
similar
ban
on
Donald
Trump.

“In
its
appellate
review,
the
Second
Circuit
unanimously
affirmed
in
full
the
district
court’s
order
enjoining
Martin
Shkreli
from
participation
in
the
pharmaceutical
industry
for
life
and
ordering
him
to
disgorge
$64.6
million,”
Faherty
wrote.

Faherty
attached
a
copy
of
the
2nd
Circuit’s
eight-page
ruling
to
her
letter,
noting
that
it
was
not
published
yet
on
a
legal
database.

The
legal
linkage
of
Shkreli
and
Donald
Trump
comes
more
than
eight
years
after
they
were
first
compared
for
their
habit
of
sparking
public
outrage
for
their
online
and
real-world
comments
—
Donald
Trump
while
seeking
the
presidency,
and
Shkreli
while
unapologetically
raising
the
price
of
a
life-saving
drug
by
more
than
$700
per
tablet.

At
the
time
of
the
price
increase
for
the
drug
Daraprim,
Donald
Trump
blasted
Shkreli.

“He
looks
like
a
spoiled
brat
to
me,”
Donald
Trump
said
then.
He
also
called
Shkreli
“nothing”
and
a
“zero.”

But
Shkreli
months
later
endorsed
Donald
Trump’s
candidacy.

One
of
the
witnesses
against
Shkreli
at
his
2017
securities
fraud
trial
was
Texas
biotech
investor
Darren
Blanton,
who
was
allegedly
defrauded
by
Shkreli.
Blanton
served
as
an
advisor
to
Donald
Trump’s
presidential
transition.

After
he
was
convicted
of
securities
fraud
and
other
crimes
in
the
summer
of
2017,
Shkreli
remained
free
on
bond
pending
his
appeal.

But
his
bail
was
revoked
and
he
was
ordered
jailed
by
a
judge
after
offering
his
Facebook
followers
a
$5,000
bounty
for
a
strand
of
hair
from
Hillary
Clinton,
the
former
first
lady,
U.S.
senator,
and
secretary
of
state
whom
Donald
Trump
defeated
in
the
2016
presidential
election.