FILE – In this May 20, 2016 file photo, Jussie Smollett attends the “Empire” FYC Event in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, March 15, 2017, Smollett debuted a music video for “F.U.W.”, a song about injustice which he wrote and performs, on his YouTube page. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Abraham Lincoln once said that if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again. This is generally good advice, but in Jussie Smollett’s case, the dude needs to stop trying to push his obviously nonsensical story. It’s embarrassing.

Still, he and his PR team are sticking by the claim that two MAGA hatted white guys assaulted poor Smollett in the cold dead of night for racist and homophobic reasons. They’re doing so because it looks like the city of Chicago wants its money back for all the time and funds spent investigating a case that came up demonstrably false.

According to the Associated Press, Smollett’s PR team stated that “every iots of information” about the case is true:

A statement emailed Wednesday follows a city filing Monday defending its lawsuit seeking to recoup costs of investigating what it says was a January publicity stunt.

The statement says “every iota of information … Smollett has stated has been fully corroborated.”

The statement didn’t say what evidence allegedly backs Smollett’s claim that masked men hurling racist and homophobic insults beat him and looped a noose around his neck.

The city says GPS data, video and other evidence prove Smollett paid the men to fake a hate crime.

I want to just lightly mention the fact that Smollett turned himself in for filing a false police report and that there is GPS data, video and other evidence proving Smollett paid two Nigerian brothers to attack him.

But more importantly, I want to point out that even his story doesn’t hold up on base value.

Let’s see if we can’t get this straight.

Smollett decided he wanted to go get a sandwich at 2 a.m. and ventured out into the Chicago night on foot which featured a -15 to -30 windchill at that time.

This particular street in Chicago is littered with cameras, except for one gap. Somehow, two MAGA hat-wearing white guys with a rope and some bleach knew that Smollett was going to be walking down that street at 2 a.m., and were ready to assault him in the one place they knew there was a gap in surveillance.

What’s more, these two white MAGA hat-wearing men weren’t seen getting into position to assault Smollett, so I can only assume they managed to rappel down from the roof so as to avoid the cameras. Once they were done assaulting him, they must have climbed back up to the roof and disappeared into the night, as there was no footage of white guys leaving the scene either.

What we have here is Smollett’s PR team saying that this assault that had to have had Ocean’s 11 style planning and execution from two racist, homophobic bumpkins is all true. “Every iota” in fact.

I gotta say, it takes cajones to try to stick by that story in light of everything.