"Strict Liability" is what has his balls all shriveled up. He wants us to all believe it makes less sense for him to know and look the other way, than it does that he was complicit. That's the reason he was so pissed at Bozich. Bozich nailed him for being a micromanager to the Nth degree and there was no way something this big went on for that long that Rick didn't catch wind of it.
People commit crimes everyday that they know don't make sense. They somehow manage to rationalize it to themselves though. He thinks that since the whole scenario is so preposterous, no one would believe he could be involved. Quite the opposite is true and he is beginning to understand it.
He'll probably go all John Chaney at a press conference at some point this year. He's ready to break.