If you represented a man who notoriously lied just for the sake of lying, it would be tempting to have your client plead the Fifth to every single question since every question posed the risk of Trump perjuring himself. Of course, a propensity to lie is not a basis for pleading the Fifth. The problem is that Trump likes to explain himself and why your sh*tty question is stupid and wrong, and that’s where he gets in trouble.
As everyone knows, the New York Attorney General’s office deposed Trump today in its lawsuit to collect back taxes. This is the lawsuit that Trump calls a “witchhunt” similar to “Russia, Russia, Russia” and is a nuisance suit brought by a racist prosecutor (Letitia James is black, and apparently, when black people, especially women, sue white men, it is racist). According to the New York Times, Trump was able to answer one question. (Linked Below)
The New York State attorney general, Letitia James, sat across from Donald J. Trump as he repeatedly declined to answer questions, invoking his right against self-incrimination during a deposition on Wednesday, according to one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers. The lawyer, Ronald P. Fischetti, said that over the course of about four hours, with several breaks, Mr. Trump answered only one question, about his name, toward the beginning of the interview.
Then he read a statement into the record in which he called the inquiry a continuation of “the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country” and accused Ms. James of having “openly campaigned on a policy of destroying me.” Ms. James did not visibly react, Mr. Fischetti said in an interview. After that, Mr. Trump repeated the words “same answer” from about 9:30 a.m. to around 3 p.m., with a long break for lunch and several shorter breaks.
So it is the greatest witch hunt in history, and then every single question poses the same problem. Answering honestly might incriminate Trump. Right. As they say, “On Brand.” Another element on brand, Trump wanted to answer some questions, likely enraged, wanting to explain the situation in Trump’s aggressive manner to James. His attorney talked him out of it.
Breaking News: Donald Trump repeatedly said “same answer” after invoking the 5th Amendment during four hours of questioning as Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, sat across from him, his lawyer said. https://t.co/vpMXTGKIpM [1]
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 10, 2022 [2]
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman