Rand Paul: ‘I Don’t Know How You Plead the Fifth Amendment to Something You’ve Already Been Granted Immunity for’

EXCERPT:

PAUL: “I think there’s a legal question that should be pursued, and this is why we’ll push this with the Department of Justice. And the legal question is, if you’re pardoned, can you really claim the Fifth? The Fifth Amendment is to claim immunity from self-incrimination. But if you’ve already been given immunity, you can’t self-incriminate unless you lie. So, the only way he could incriminate himself today was if he lied. For example, if I ask him, did you delete 5,000 records during your tenure? Did you have your assistant delete these emails? If he says yes, even though it’s a crime, he’s admitting to a crime he’s been pardoned for. So, he wouldn’t have any immunity. I don’t know how you plead the Fifth Amendment to something you’ve already been granted immunity for. But this is a legal decision and that’s why I think it needs to be pursued in court. Whether or not a pardon, you can continue to claim the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination when you’ve already been given immunity. So, I think there are some really important legal questions here.”