Also, the magic words are important because once you answer you can be forced to answer follow up questions to clarify any answer you provide, and what counts as a follow up question is subject to interpretation.

“How did you receive the manifesto?”

“I don’t recall.”

“When you say you don’t recall, does that mean it’s possible you received it via email?”

“I don’t recall.”

“So you’re saying that to the best of your knowledge, it’s possible that there’s a record in your inbox. Judge, can you make him turn over his email account?”

Bit of a stretch and IANAL but there’s a reason when you see someone stonewalling they’ll say the same line even to simple questions like, “What’s your name?”

I guess all of that is moot if they ship him off to El Salvador or award him with the CIA Award for Excellence in Journalism, but those are the rules they’re supposed to play by.