WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Friday morning, a subdued version of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone appeared at the O'Neill Federal House Office Building for his brief closed-door Jan. 6 House select committee deposition. After an hour and a half, Stone emerged and said he pleaded the Fifth to every question asked of him by the committee. “I did invoke my Fifth Amendment rights to every question not because I have done anything wrong, but because I am fully aware of the House Democrats’ long history of fabricating perjury charges on the basis of comments that are innocuous, material or irrelevant,” he told a large gaggle of reporters.

Stone refused to answer questions about whether he spoke with Trump during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. However, the self-described “dirty trickster” did respond to a question about why he was not wearing his usual top hat. “It’s called a homburg, not a top hat,” Stone scoffed at this reporter.

Shortly thereafter, Stone threw up his arms and made the V sign with both hands—as made infamous by his idol, Richard Nixon—and left in a black SUV with advisers.