Jesse James may be a serial adulterer and all-around tattooed white trash, but he’s not a Nazi. Us Weekly says,

An attorney for Jesse James is explaining his client’s shocking “Nazi salute” photo unearthed by Us Weekly.

Lawyer Joe Yanny told CNN that the German Nazi hat worn by James in the 2004 snapshot (in which James strikes a “Heil Hitler” pose and mimics Hitler’s mustache) was actually a “gag gift” from James’ Jewish godfather.

While in poor taste, possessing or wearing the accessory doesn’t make James a neo-Nazi, Yanny insisted.

To further prove that James is no anti-Semite, Yanny added that James lived for nearly a month in an Israeli kibbutz.

“He did it for shock value,” a source tells Us Weekly of the photo, taken in James’ home. The tattooed biker is “just a history buff,” an insider tells Us Weekly. “He had a stepmom whose father lost family in the camps, and they’d talk about it growing up. Jesse’s not a white supremacist.”

It’s a good thing that none of his mistresses have shown any sort of white supremacist leanings, because that would make this explanation seem like total bullshit.

James with his daughter Sunny:

Things just aren’t looking up for Jesse James since news of his affair with fetish model Michelle McGee broke. Unless you’re talking about a one-handed Third Reich salute, in which case it is very much looking up, because that’s how white supremacists do it, you see. TMZ says

[These] shocking photos of Michelle McGee were taken almost a year ago. We’re told the Nazi-themed layout — complete with a swastika armband and backdrop — was the photographer’s idea, but that Michelle was very enthusiastic.

In child custody documents filed in January, Michelle’s ex-husband says she “makes the Nazi salute,” and has a swastika tattooed on her stomach (not seen in these pics).

In one photo the letter “w” is on Michelle’s left leg, and the letter “p” on her right. We’re told Michelle tells people it stands for “white power.”

Oof. That’s like finding out the dog turd you stepped in barefoot had a bunch of broken glass and rusty nails in. No offense to any dog turds out there, of course. It’s just a innocuous visual metaphor used to personify the abstract concept of “going from bad to worse to Jesus-fucking-Christ-what-the-hell-did-I-just-stick-my-dick-in.” Or as you probably call it, Saturday morning.

See the rest of the charming pictures at TMZ.