'We weren't smart enough to collude with Russia': Eric Trump offers novel defense of his father's campaign

On Tuesday, Business Insider reported that Eric Trump revealed a new kind of denial of his father's campaign ties to Russia: arguing that his family simply isn't smart enough to have pulled off such a scheme.

"Speaking with former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler on his Uncut podcast, Trump joked about how little he and the rest of the family knew about the basics of American politics while his father was running for president in 2016," reported Jake Lahut. "Trump also referenced the Russia investigation ... 'We weren't smart enough to collude with Russia,' Trump says at one point."

"We didn't know what the hell we were doing," added Eric Trump in the interview. "We didn't know what a delegate was."

READ MORE: Trump is doing 'big-league damage' to everyone going to bat to protect him: presidential adviser

The Trump campaign's ties to Russia was the subject of former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation for two years.

Ultimately, Mueller concluded that the Trump campaign and its allies had several improper ties to Russia, and lied about these in questioning with law enforcement — but did not find enough evidence to charge a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.