Theranos trial: Former US general 'amazed' by Elizabeth Holmes

A former US defence secretary has said he was "amazed" by the promise of the blood testing technology developed by the now disgraced Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes.

James Mattis, who sat on the company's board, also thought it was a mistake when she was first accused of fraud.

The former general is testifying at Ms Holmes' trial where she is accused of deceiving patients and investors.

Ms Holmes, 37, who denies the charges, could face 20 years in jail.

Once dubbed the "next Steve Jobs", the former entrepreneur rose to fame in 2013 thanks to technology she claimed could test for multiple diseases using just a few drops of blood.

But by 2015 it emerged the tests did not work and the billionaire inventor fell from grace.

Gen Mattis, who served under Donald Trump, was one of a number of political grandees to sit on the Theranos board - in his case between 2013 and 2016.

On Wednesday, he told the court in San Jose he had been "rather taken" with Ms Holmes' technology at first and later invested nearly $85,000 in the firm.

"This was something so new, I was frankly amazed at what was possible based on what Miss Holmes said," he said.

He added that the entrepreneur - who also convinced high profile investors such as Rupert Murdoch to back her - was "sharp, articulate, committed".

When in 2015 the Wall Street Journal reported that Theranos's tests were flawed, Gen Mattis initially thought an "aggressive reporter" was misrepresenting the facts.

The paper also claimed Theranos was doing most of its testing on commercially available machines made by other manufacturers.

"There came a point where I didn't know what to believe about Theranos anymore," he said, adding that he soon stopped attending board meetings.

Once considered a visionary, Ms Holmes was banned from running a blood testing company for two years in 2016, and saw her company dissolved in 2018.

Prosecutors say Ms Holmes and her ex-boyfriend and partner - Ramesh Balwani - turned to fraud in 2009 after big pharmaceutical firms declined to back Theranos and they ran out of cash.

They are alleged to have lied about the tests and exaggerated the firm's performance to secure $700m of investment.

However, Ms Holmes lawyers says she did not intend to defraud, but instead "naively underestimated" the challenges her business faced.

Ms Holmes has also alleged Mr Balwani abused her emotionally and psychologically for years, impairing her mental state. Mr Balwani has denied the allegations.