Donnie Downs The Fifth

February 19, 2023

A Fifth Amendment By Any Other Name

The disgraced, twice-impeached, failed insurrection leader and Fifth-Amendment-dependent ex-one-term Forty Fifth president is now the Four-Hundred-Fifth-Amendment ex-president. Donnie Dementia hid behind the Fifth Amendment - without calling it by its name – nearly 450 times during his hours-long deposition as he stands accused of fraud in the state of New York. 

Trump pretending to read while wallowing in the Fifth Amendment

during questioning by NY Attorney General Letitia James

Dementia Donnie refused to call it by its name nearly 450 times, fooling no one but himself. Is it possible he listens to himself and remembered all the times he had less than flattering things to say about people taking the Fifth? More likely, someone remembered for him and gave him a piece of paper to try to keep him from ad-libbing himself into a perjury trap. Or uttering the words “Fifth Amendment.” 

Trump did let those truthful words slip out one time, when he said “Anyone in my position not taking the Fifth Amendment would be a fool, an absolute fool.” This while his lawyers could be heard whispering, “Read the statement. Read the statement.” For the record, one can invoke the Fifth Amendment many hundreds of times and still be a fool. And guilty. 

We Hold His Lies To Be Self Evident

 

Less than two weeks before the 2016 election, the FBI was throwing baseless allegations about Hillary Clinton’s emails – for the umpteenth time. These allegations were made in no small part because FBI agent Charles McGonigal, who we now know was being paid by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska – Putin’s (and Trump ally Paul Manafort’s) buddy who was helping Trump defeat Clinton – helped force FBI Director James Comey to announce these new accusations which probably caused Clinton to lose the Electoral College. Some might call this coordination between Trump, individuals in the FBI and Russian nationals loyal to Putin collusion. 

Here’s what candidate Trump said about Clinton’s staff during the campaign while Clinton’s staff was dealing with these allegations:
 

“Her staffers taking the Fifth Amendment, over and over.”

 

“You have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth. So they’re not prosecuted…I think it’s disgraceful.”

 

“Fifth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Fifth Amendment. Horrible. Horrible.”

 

“So, there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment. Like you see on the mob, right? You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” 

It almost sounds like Trump thinks anyone who takes the Fifth has something to hide. Funny thing about the Fifth Amendment, while it cannot be used to imply guilt in criminal proceedings, it can be used in civil court to do just that. Juries in civil court are permitted to make “adverse inferences against” a defendant who pleads the Fifth. This means that they are within their rights to think things like:
 

“Fifth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Fifth Amendment. Horrible. Horrible.”

 

“…taking the Fifth Amendment. Like you see on the mob, right? You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” 

are indicative of guilt as they decide the disposition of the case. 

Oopsie.

It is starting to look like Trump would be better off pivoting to a non compos mentis defense.
 

I. Mangrey invoking.