As I said above, it's a question of whether he is innocent or guilty of the crimes he will be accused of in the potential criminal case that will follow. Remember, pleading the fifth can only be done to avoid self-incrimination, not to avoid testifying about your employer.
You said "regardless of whether he is innocent." There is no criminal case or publicly announced investigation. So pleading the 5th every time you are asked a question in litigation is always the winning strategy, in case you end up being prosecuted?
What about obstetricians and neurosurgeons and such other high net worth people practicing in litigious environments, who are liable to be sued a few times through the course of their career? Even if the doctor committed borderline malpractice, answering every question in a document demand or deposition with "I plead the fifth" is a good way to lose everything on a case that could have been dismissed early on without trial. When pretty much zero doctors are prosecuted for injuring or even killing their patients in a professional context.
There's pretty much no way to build a multi-billion dollar enterprise without attracting at least a few lawsuits along the way. This is obviously not an ordinary case.
Read the very next sentence to see how the word "innocent" is used in context. If it's not clear that I'm talking about criminal charges from that post or from the fact that we're discussing the fifth amendment (which can only be invoked if the testimony can lead to criminal liability for the person testifying) or from the fact that he is not a defendant in the current case, I hope it's clear now.
Lewandowski won't be financially ruined if Uber loses this civil case, and he won't even be very financially inconvenienced. On the other hand, there is huge potential downside if he gets charged personally with a crime.
