Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Gets Surprise Support from Sen. Cory Booker

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is among 130 people who wrote letters of support for Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted founder of disgraced blood testing company Theranos.

Lawyers for Holmes, who is pregnant with her second child, submitted the letters in an attempt to help her avoid jail time when she is sentenced next week for an epic fraud.

“I write to advocate for a fair and just sentence for Elizabeth Holmes,” Booker said in his letter, which was submitted to the court on Thursday night. “As author Bryan Stephenson has said, each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve done. I firmly believe in the possibility of rehabilitation and in the power of redemption for anyone. And I believe that Ms. Holmes has within her a sincere desire to help others, to be of meaningful service, and possesses the capacity to redeem herself.”

Holmes was convicted in January of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy, each carrying the possible sentence of 20 years in prison. Her lawyers are requesting that she serve 18 months of home confinement, followed by community service, rather than spending time in jail.

District Judge Edward Davila will make a ruling on Nov. 18 in a San Jose, California court.

Booker said that he and Holmes had been friends for about six years before she was charged with conspiracy and wire fraud. They met at a public policy conference hosted by Sen. John McCain and bonded over dinner when they discovered they were both vegan, Booker writes. There was no vegan food on offer, so the pair shared a small bag of almonds.

He still considers Holmes a friend, Booker wrote to the judge, and said he believes “she holds onto the hope that she can make contributions to the lives of others, and that she can, despite mistakes, make the world a better place.”

“No defendant should be made a martyr to public passion,” Holmes’ lawyers wrote in their court submission. “We ask that the court consider, as it must, the real person, the real company and the complex circumstances surrounding the offense.”

Holmes rose to fame after she founded Theranos, an ambitious blood testing start-up, after dropping out of Stanford at age 19. But prosecutors alleged that between 2010 and 2015, she perpetrated a massive fraud at the company, misrepresenting Theranos’ technology to patients, doctors, and high-profile investors, like Betsy DeVos and Rupert Murdoch.

Holmes claimed that the Theranos machines could run a large range of tests using just one drop of blood.

While building the company, Holmes became close to many current and former politicians, including Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, and Jim Mattis, whose support she enlisted.