Trump, Who Once Said ‘The Mob Takes the Fifth,’ Takes the Fifth

Former president Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights on Wednesday, declining to answer questions from the New York State attorney general’s office as part of a civil investigation into whether he and his company had misled lenders and tax authorities about the value of his assets. “Under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” Trump said in a statement.

Trump has suggested on many occasions that people who invoke their right against self-incrimination are guilty. “You see the mob takes the Fifth,” Trump said during a 2016 rally in Iowa. “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” The line was a jab at his opponent, Hillary Clinton, whose aides had invoked the Fifth in a congressional investigation. Trump used similar attack lines so many times that MSNBC was able to put together a compilation video earlier this year.