The official story was that this was unrelated to the drug price hike controversy. But it makes me wonder if the outcome would had been different had he not gotten all that negative attention in the first place.
Lol, don't wonder too hard. This is a pattern with the feds. If you go out of your way to piss off the public and be a flippant asshole to Congress, you're gonna have a hard time. Long before they announced any charges, I had a conversation with my dad about how the feds were likely to cook something up on this guy.
I don't disagree, but it is my opinion that the nature of financial regulation in the US means that if you own any significant amount of wealth, you reach a level of complexity where you are probably at least unwittingly guilty of a misdemeanor or felony, and few would withstand FBI scrutiny with agents motivated to find something to prosecute you with.
Specifically, I think the law is sufficiently complex that it does allow for a significant degree of arbitrary enforcement.