An unusual and little-noticed missive from the former president maps out his defense against any charges relating to January 6.

At one time, Donald Trump’s every word was subject to intense scrutiny; remember the close reading of covfefe? Those days are gone, and altogether for the better, but one strange result is that the former president can make a surprising or interesting comment and have it go largely ignored by the general public. Yesterday afternoon, Trump sent out a curious, lengthy statement via Truth Social and his press email list. Understandably, almost everyone overlooked the missive, titled “Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Witch Hunt of January 6th.” After all, how many of those have we gotten?

Yet attached was something different from the usual: a more-than-nine-page document, double-spaced and footnoted, that seems to preview the defense Trump would use if he is charged in connection with the violent insurrection that day in 2021. The points it makes add up to a message that is extremely unconvincing as a matter of common sense—everyone saw what happened and how Trump encouraged the riot, and evidence since then has only reinforced his culpability—but might sow enough doubt with a jury to derail a conviction.

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