Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes takes the stand in her criminal fraud trial
CBSN
Fallen Silicon Valley star Elizabeth Holmes took the witness stand late Friday in a surprising development in her criminal fraud trial. The former entrepreneur will attempt to refute the U.S. government's allegations that she bamboozled investors and patients into believing that her startup, Theranos, would reshape health care.
The decision to have Holmes testify so early in her defense was a bombshell development that carries considerable risk. Federal prosecutors made it clear that they are eager to grill Holmes under oath as they presented their case against her.
It's unlikely that prosecutors will get that opportunity until Monday at the earliest, when the trial resumes. The government's evidence included testimony from 29 witnesses, including former U.S. Defense Secretary and former Theranos board member General James Mattis, as well as internal documents and sometimes salacious texts between Holmes and her former lover, Sunny Bulwani, who also served as Theranos' chief operating officer.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.