Trump Takes 5th to Avoid Amnesia

“Trump invoked Fifth Amendment more than 440 times in NY AG deposition: Report Misty Severi”

Refusing to answer over 440 questions during a court deposition makes for quite a sensational headline, but in fact the headline should have read:

“Trump invoked Fifth Amendment during NY AG deposition.”

Why? Because after you invoke the 5th Amendment during a legal proceeding you can’t answer any more questions. Answer just one more question, no matter how trivial, and you’re no longer protected by the 5th Amendment: You’ll have to answer every question asked, including any questions you used the 5th Amendment to avoid answering in the first place.

Stated more simply:

Once you use the Fifth Amendment to shut your mouth it’s best to keep your mouth shut.

So, it isn’t sensational that President Trump invoked the 5th Amendment over 440 times: What is sensational is that the New York Attorney General’s office continued to ask him over 440 more questions despite knowing Trump wouldn’t answer any of them. Trump was smart enough to know not to fall into a Perjury Trap.

Frankly, it makes me wonder why Trump didn’t use the “Hillary Clinton Defense”, a defense popular among Democrats? Instead of taking the Fifth Amendment – a Right granted to everyone under the US Constitution – just answer “I don’t remember.“, “I don’t recall.“, or “I don’t know.” to any question which might have even the slightest chance of getting you in legal trouble.

Consider these recent examples:

During her testimony to the Congress under oath about destroying 33,000 emails stored on her personal computer – including at least four highly-classified State Department documents - Hillary Clinton did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but answered she could not recall or didn’t know to 21 of 25 questions asked, using such a phrase 40 times.

During her interview with the FBI about sensitive government information stored on her personal computer – including at least four highly-classified State Department documents - Hillary Clinton did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but answered she “could not recall” 40 times during her questioning.

During her testimony on the Benghazi Consulate attack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but couldn’t remember the name of the Ambassador killed during the attack despite being his boss.

During his testimony to the US Congress in closed-door session former FBI Director James Comey did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but when asked about his involvement in obtaining allegedly illegal FISA warrants to investigate Donald Trump answered “I don’t recall” 8 times, “I don’t remember” 71 times, and “I don’t know” 166 times.

Added Bonus! Hillary Clinton admits she has never lied to the public…and never will

During her testimony to the US Senate about her involvement in the Whitewater scandal Hillary Clinton did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but answered “I don’t recall.“, or some variant of that phrase, 184 times.

Now, in the interest of fairness, the “Hillary Clinton Defense” was also used by Republicans. Here’s a couple of examples:

During his testimony to the Congress about Russian Interference in the 2016 Election Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but answered “I don’t remember.” 26 times when questioned by Democrats.

During his Congressional testimony regarding the Iran-Contra Affair President Ronald Reagan did not invoke the 5th Amendment…but answered “I don’t remember.” or its’ equivalents at least 124 times while being questioned over an 8 hour period.

The best thing about the “Hillary Clinton Defense” is that afterwards you can claim you “cooperated fully by answering all questions” when in fact you only helped to verify something most people already know: Politicians, by claiming to forget, forget just how smart most people really are.

Unless, of course, you’re Joe Biden…Biden never has to claim he “forgot”