Back in the 1980’s there was a political scandal around US arms trafficking to Iran known as the Iran-Contra affair. There were a number of congressional hearings about this including repeated testimony from President Reagan replying “I can’t recall…” many times when questioned about the scandal.
Years later when I was in high school, my friends and I used this excuse liberally anytime we were “caught” and questioned in a potentially embarrassing situation. “Can’t recall! Can’t recall!” we would all exclaim while bursting out in laughter.
It was quite hilarious and stuck as our catch phrase for several years.
I was reminded of this recently during senate hearings for Trump’s cabinet confirmations and then about the “Signalgate” fiasco. Over and over again, those being questioned about past events and statements responded with “I can’t remember… I don’t recall… I don’t recollect…” . These were all obvious lies since much of what they were being asked about came directly from their own podcasts, interviews and TV appearances.
There’s an old joke that goes – How can you tell if a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving.
Here’s my addendum to this joke. How can you tell if someone is lying under oath? I can’t recall.