Traub thinks the third time was a mistake and is probably right.

Here is what I expected: denial, then partial admission, then a collapse into some version of regret.

Here is what happened: she answered every question.

She did not take the Fifth.

Her lawyers had told her she could — the criminal exposure was time-barred but they had advised her she could still decline on the ground that it was not certain — and she declined to decline.

She confirmed the meeting in May.