Enlarge / Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos CEO. (credit: Getty | CNBC)

It’s been a rough couple of years for Elizabeth Holmes, CEO and founder of the now-floundering blood-testing company Theranos. The biotech company went from a promising golden child of Silicon Valley, at one point valued at $9 billion, to a disgrace that: put patients in harm’s way with tens of thousands of inaccurate blood tests; had one of its two diagnostic labs shut down by federal regulators; lost high-profile business partners; and now faces a mountain of lawsuits. Holmes herself has been banned from the blood-testing industry (pending an appeal).

But the failures aren’t due to defects in Holmes’ unproven blood testing technology or from her hard oversell. It’s really due to a vast conspiracy involving a Wall Street Journal reporter, rats at her company, and a Hollywood movie deal worth millions—at least, that’s according to long-time Theranos investor and personal friend of Holmes Tim Draper.

In an interview with AXIOS, the venture capitalist claimed that “Elizabeth is the victim of a witch hunt.” And the WSJ reporter who broke the story of the company’s problems, John Carreyrou, has “some strange vendetta” against her.