Following news reports overnight that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller had issued one or more far-reaching subpoenas as part of an ongoing probe into Russian election interference, former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg on Monday let it be known that while he had received such a request, he would not be cooperating with Mueller or submitting to the demand for 2016 emails.
"Let him arrest me. Mr. Mueller should understand I am not going in on Friday." —former Trump aide Sam NunbergDuring remarks on MSNBC, where spoke live on the phone with anchor Katy Tur, Nunberg said he would not hand over emails demanded by the subpoena and also acknowledged that while he believes Mueller "may have something" on President Trump, he could not specify what that might be.
"I think that [Trump] may have done something during the election," Nunberg said. "I don't know that for sure."
"I think that he may have done something during the election," former Trump aide Sam Nunberg says of President Trump, but adds, "I don't know that for sure." pic.twitter.com/4qpzxGcS2s
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 5, 2018
Described as "Mueller's Hit List" by Axios, which first reported on the existence of the subpoena on Sunday, the requests was said to be for "all communications — meaning emails, texts, handwritten notes, etc." between the witness receiving it and an extensive list of Trump's top advisors which included: Carter Page, Corey Lewandowski, Donald J. Trump, Hope Hicks, Keith Schiller, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, and Steve Bannon.
Nunberg not only acknowledged the existence of the subpoena, as he was the apparent recipient of it, but also said it had arrived with a request to appear before the grand jury, but that he would not be cooperating. "Why should I hand them emails from November, 2015?" he asked.
Watch: Ex-Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg says he's refusing comply with Mueller subpoena:
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 5, 2018
"I'm not going to cooperate when they want me to come into a grand jury for them to insinuate that Roger Stone was colluding with Julian Assange. Roger is my mentor. Roger is like family." pic.twitter.com/jUtBCPNiDe
Nunberg called the request "absolutely ridiculous"—that it would take him dozens of hours to fulfill the demand—and suggested nothing would happen to him if he refuses.
"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," Nunberg stated.
Watch: Former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg on refusing to Mueller's subpoena request:
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 5, 2018
"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." pic.twitter.com/GHS95sYzE7
As Tur's colleague Cassie Hunt put it on Twitter, "If you're not listening/watching [this interview] with Sam Nunberg you're really missing out."
In a separate interview with the Washington Post, Nunberg said: "Let him arrest me. Mr. Mueller should understand I am not going in on Friday."
Asked about Nunberg's comments at a White House press briefing shortly after, press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders had no comment on Nunberg's refusal and said that he was "incorrect" regarding the comment that Mueller might "have something" on the president. She said once again there was "no collusion" between the Trump campaign and any alleged Russian interference.
Nunberg reportedly told the Post that he was planning to go on Bloomberg TV later to actually tear up the subpoena.
Stay tuned!
