Read Time: 2 min 35 sec | Listen to Podcast | Watch on YouTube

We plead the Fifth 🤐 …

Jk, but it is kinda that simple. To “plead the Fifth” means refusing to answer questions or provide information that might incriminate you. It refers to the Fifth Amendment, which says the government can’t compel someone to “witness against himself.”

When can I plead the Fifth?
Any time a statement is compelled and might incriminate you.

Think: court proceedings, traffic stops, Congressional hearings, arrests, etc. If someone's asking you to testify or hand over evidence that could get you prosecuted, you can plead the Fifth.

Can anything override my Fifth Amendment right?
Yes: immunity or a pardon. 

Pardoned people are exempt from prosecution, meaning they can't incriminate themselves, and testimony has to be self-incriminating to qualify. So, sometimes investigators will offer immunity to a witness, which then compels them to testify. 

Allllso, you lose the right to plead the Fifth about a crime when you’ve been convicted of it (since the beans have already been spilled).

What happens after I plead the Fifth?
It depends on the context, but usually the people doing the questioning have to move on. 

In the case of an investigation, police could get a search warrant. The Fifth doesn’t apply to evidence investigators gather themselves. In the case of a courtroom, a lawyer either has to move on from that line of questioning or a judge can determine the witness doesn’t have a basis for pleading the Fifth and compel testimony by threatening to hold them in contempt.

What’re the downsides?
Pleading the Fifth can't be used to prove guilt for a criminal defendant, but witnesses and civil defendants who plead it can still face negative inferences from a jury.

Employees who plead the Fifth in a corporate investigation could also be fired, if their contract requires playing nice with the feds.

__

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Thanks to Christ’s sacrifice, we won’t need to “plead the Fifth” when we’re one day tried in God’s heavenly court. Even though we will be found guilty on all counts, our punishment has already been paid in full. Praise God for that today!

“And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:13-14 (CSB) (read full passage)

What’s going on in the Middle East can feel far away, but reading endless headlines doesn’t have to leave you feeling helpless. There’s something very real and tangible Christians can do right now: pray specifically. 

Help The Persecuted’s free newsletter provides tangible prayer requests every Saturday morning, straight from believers on the ground in Iran, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon—people facing death threats, execution, and abandonment because they cling to Jesus amid hostility.

It’s a simple, powerful way to stay connected to the global church and bring fresh perspective to your own walk with the Lord. 

Sign up for the free prayer newsletter here!

Curious how we choose sponsors?  Learn more  |  Advertise with us

Solving this week’s themed Mini Crossword. Send in your time!

Being able to entertain yourself is a great skill...

A weekly rhythm to invest in your marriage. Created by TPO readers Nathaniel and Xan S., the Weekly Marriage Meeting Journal is a guided 52-week journal built around one simple habit: a 30 minute-per-week check-in to get on the same page, pray, align, and reconnect. Each entry walks you through gratitude, reflection, planning the week ahead, and a “One Degree Shift” to keep you growing together instead of drifting apart. Grab your journal and start your weekly rhythm today!*

*This is a free promo for a TPO-reader-owned small biz. Have your own small business you want us to know about? Fill out this form!

Top News-Related Link: This map of the wildfires in Spain and France.

Top Christian Perspective: A prayer for the displaced. Download and save it here.

Top Whipped Cream: Y’all, like us, were captivated by this glasswork.

Why My Home Got Compared to a 5-Star Hotel
Because I use Aura House*

You know that musty scent wet beach towels get? I live near the beach, so I’m all too familiar… but thanks to Aura House, my guests aren’t.

Their incredible cold-air diffusers make my house smell like a resort hotel (my guests’ words), releasing a clean fragrance that blankets everything in a relaxing scent (my fave is Collins, with its lemongrass and orange top notes 👩🏼‍🍳💋). Plus, no heat, flame, or water, and Sephora-clean certified, so I’m not worried about my kid’s safety or health.

Use code TPO10 for 10% off (warning: people may start asking if you can host dinners). 

Elly Hamby | Hotelier Partnerships Manager

A Prayer of Confession

Almighty and Merciful God, you are near to the brokenhearted and contrite, calling mourners and the meek blessed. Yet I regularly refuse to grieve and be humbled by my brokenness. I look away from my weakness and sin, distracted by the noise in the world and in my heart.

Convicting Spirit, slow me down and shine your light on the dark places in me. As I face my weakness, show me your strength. Create a new heart in me that hates what lures me away and longs for that which brings me close to you.

Savior Jesus, come quickly to save me; I am pursued by constant temptations. Deliver me from the sin that entangles, and cleanse me from the earthly habits that quench your Spirit. Amen.

This prayer comes from Praying the News: Liturgies for Reading the Headlines, a TPO book coming in 2027 written by Steph Juliot. Click here to look inside, preorder your copy, and get exclusive perks!

Each week, we do the deep shallow dive so that you don’t have to. We bring what we learn not only to this email, but we sit down together and talk about it, too. Check out this week’s episode of TPO Explains... just click on the episode below.

(You’ll still get our M/W/F news)