I don’t recall

Question: What does a liar do when confronted with a question she doesn’t want to answer truthfully under oath but at the same time wants to avoid being charged with perjury?

Answer: She dodges the question by testifying “I don’t recall.”

I can’t count the number of times I have questioned lying witnesses under oath by deposition or written interrogatories and encountered this common dodge. The liar knows that her recollection at any given moment cannot be challenged. You can’t get inside someone’s head. So she doesn’t answer “yes” or “no” or respond truthfully to the question. She just answers “I don’t recall.”

Questioning this type of lying witness is like pulling teeth.

That’s how liars get away with lying. And one of the biggest liars I know is Hillary Rodham Clinton. The lady perjures herself every time she opens her mouth and when she’s not committing outright perjury she’s declaring “I don’t know,” which we all know is just another lie.

Recently a judge ordered Hillary Clinton to answer 25 written interrogatories under oath about her private IT server in a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch. It was the first time Clinton was forced to answer questions under oath about her private email system.

Clinton and her legal team objected to all or part of 18 of the 25 questions put to her. She also filed eight separate general objections to the process under which the questions were being asked. When she did respond, she used some variation of "I don’t recall" at least 21 times; 25 questions; 21 answers: “I don’t recall.”

She maintained that it was her "expectation" that all her work related emails on the server were turned over by her lawyers to the State Department when she finished her four year tenure. That we know now contradicts testimony by FBI Director James Comey who told the House oversight committee that "thousands" of work-related emails were not returned.

Question: Did you order emails on your private server to be deleted and permanently erased in 2013 after your tenure as Secretary of State? 

Answer: “I don’t recall.”

Question: Did you in 2011 receive a memo from senior State Department officials warning of increased attempts to hack into your private server? 

Answer: “I don’t recall.”

Question: When did you decide to use her private email account to conduct government business and whom did you consult with in making that decision? 

Answer: “I don’t recall.”

Question: Were you warned that using a private email account conflicted with federal record-keeping rules? Answer: “I don’t recall.”

Question: Was that topic ever discussed with you? 

Answer: “I don’t recall.”

"Mrs. Clinton's refusal to answer many of the questions in a clear and straightforward manner reflects disdain for the rule of law," observes Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that Clinton has answered these same questions in multiple settings for over a year, and her answers "are entirely consistent with what she has said many times before.”

“I don’t recall.” “I don’t recall.” “I don’t recall.”

“Judicial Watch is a right-wing organization that has been attacking the Clintons since the 1990s, and this frivolous lawsuit is just its latest failed attempt to hurt her campaign for the presidency," insists Fallon.

Yes, Hillary Clinton knows how to successfully dodge answering simple questions under oath and how to thwart all legitimate attempts by anyone to get at the truth. She simply utilizes the last resort of a liar:

“I don’t recall.”