Sam Nunberg, a former political aide to U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Monday he would refuse to comply with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election campaign.
"I'm not going to cooperate," Nunberg told MSNBC. "Why do I have to spend 80 hours going over my emails" with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Trump associate Roger Stone.
Mueller's investigation arose in part from the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had meddled in the election and that its goals eventually included aiding Trump who won a surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Russia denies the allegations and Trump says there was no collusion between Moscow and his campaign.
Mueller has charged several Trump associates and more than a dozen Russians.
Nunberg, in a phone call to MSNBC, said a subpoena to appear before a grand jury was "absolutely ridiculous," and rejected any notion that Trump had colluded with Russians.
"Donald Trump did not collude with the Russians. It is the biggest joke to ever think that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians," said Nunberg, who also spoke to the Washington Post and CNN.
Later during an on-air interview with MSNBC's Ari Melber, Nunberg said he would laugh if Mueller sent him to jail for not complying.
“You keep saying there won’t be a consequence,” Melber asked. “What if the consequence is going to jail?”
“They’re not going to send me to jail,” Nunberg exclaimed. “You know what, Mr. Mueller, if he wants to send me to jail, he can send me to jail and I’ll laugh about it, and I’ll make a bigger spectacle than I am on your TV show now.”
Nunberg started working for then-businessman Trump in 2011, making him one of his earliest political advisers, but he was fired from the Republican's campaign in August 2015 before the heat of the 2016 presidential race.
Asked if he was concerned about being held in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena, Nunberg laughed off the idea.
"Let's see what Mr. Mueller does. I think it would be funny if they arrested me. I think it would be really, really funny if they wanted to arrest me because I don't want to spend 80 hours going over emails I had with Steve Bannon and Roger Stone," he said.
Nunberg's wild day of interviews ended at CNN with host Erin Burnett asking him whether he had been drinking, telling him that she smelled alcohol on his breath as he sat near her at the studio desk.
"I reached out to a Trump ally. This person told me–I just want to be direct because he’s not the only one to say it–you’re drunk or off your meds," Burnett said. "At least half a dozen other CNN reporters have received similar messages. Is this a hit job or is something wrong?"
"I don’t care what they say," replied Nunberg who denied he had had a drink. "I really could care less what the Trump White House has to say about me."
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