Hillary Clinton supporter and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm defended Clinton's decision Tuesday to do an upcoming fundraiser with the scandal-plagued company Theranos, shrugging that Clinton is "trying to raise money."
Theranos, according to the left-leaning New York Magazine, was once "the toast of Silicon Valley," but its signature blood-testing technology has been revealed to be nowhere near as accurate or valuable as originally purported. The company, led by young CEO Elizabeth Holmes, was valued at $9 billion, but it's fallen under federal review and looking increasingly like a disaster. According to New York Magazine:
In recent days, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that the company’s lab in Newark, California, was in violation of five federal regulations, thereby posing "immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety." Last week, the release of that investigation’s full report revealed that "quality control issues" may have compromised the blood-test results of 81 patients.
"It was kind of interesting to read that Hillary Clinton was going to Theranos for a fundraiser," CNBC anchor Kelly Evans said. "This is a company whose technology has largely been proven as just not really being there. I'm not really what the company is even doing at this point as regulators, the Feds are looking into it ... What's the benefit of Hillary Clinton having a fundraiser there? What is she trying to accomplish by doing that?"
"I'm sure she's trying to raise money," Granholm said, laughing as though it was obvious. "Obviously, coming to the area where there's high-tech and making sure there are people on the board, et cetera ... It's all about, I'm sure at this moment, a race to have the funds to be able to make her case to people. Obviously, we've seen that Bernie Sanders has got a huge amount of money, and she's going to continue to try to compete, and the only way you can compete with your message, obviously, is raising money, so that's why she's there."
"Yeah, I get that, but if I'm Bernie Sanders or anybody ... I don't know, it just doesn't seem to look good," Evans said. "I'm not sure I really understand why she feels like that's a risk worth taking, but perhaps that's how desperate the fundraising is at this juncture."
"Well, I don't know that it's desperate, but if you're going to a place where you've got a lot of people on the board who are interested in investment and in technology, whether this particular company is going to fly or not, who knows? But she is interested in investing in research and technology," Granholm said. "It's part of her economic plan."