UPDATE: So, after all that—Nunberg has decided to comply with the subpoena, but not after also going after Jared Kushner, whom he calls a “stupid ass,” and criticizing Trump for throwing Bannon under the bus. He claims Trump would have lost by 15 points if he didn’t bring Steve Bannon onboard. He mentioned all of this in a late night interview with The New Yorker, where he also cleared up his remarks about Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He said that she’s a slob because she does Trump’s “dirty business.” When asked if he was referring to her personality and not appearance, Nunberg said, “Yeah, I’m not making a judgment about her terrible appearance, because that would be very rude and not politically correct.”
He also said he doesn’t care if Trump goes down. The main reason for his frustration with the subpoena is the very short time frame he had to turn over the materials it requested.
[Bold text indicates questions from New Yorker]:
On the record, what made you do this today?
Because I didn’t wanna spend 80 hours going over emails and sending them news clippings that I send Steve Bannon and Roger Stone. And I’m also not interested in any kind of case they’re trying to start against Roger, and I think that they don’t like Roger and they want to go after him, and I’m not gonna be a part of it.
And by the way, I’ve been very clear about this: they can take down Trump! I don’t care! Take him down! Take him down!
Have they reached out to Stone yet about doing an interview?
Not as far as I know, and I didn’t coordinate this with Roger.
And you got your subpoena today?
No! You know what pissed me off? And this is something you should report: after I was in there for six hours, and I paid for an attorney and we paid to go down there, they then sent me this on Friday and wanted it by 3 p.m. today. That’s why I started calling around and saying I’m not giving them shit.
[…]
Didn’t you call Sarah Huckabee Sanders a slob?
Yeah, I called her a slob. She is a slob!
What does that mean? Like, Trump called Steve Bannon “Sloppy Steve” — what does that mean?
Steve got Trump’s fat ass elected. Trump would’ve lost by 15 points had Steve not gotten involved in the campaign.
Wait, wait — what does slob mean in this case? Like, why is Sarah Huckabee Sanders “a slob”?
Because she does Trump’s dirty business.
I see, so you’re not making a judgment about her appearance, you’re talking about her personality?
Yeah, I’m not making a judgment about her terrible appearance, because that would be very rude and not politically correct. Why would I want to do that? Did I sound drunk? I think that I was just more of myself in these interviews than I’ve ever been. That’s what I think it was.
[…]
When you say that you haven’t spoken to Trump in a very long time, do you mean, like, weeks, months?
Months.
How many months?
Uh, I don’t wanna get into it.
Did he call you the last time that you spoke?
Yes, he called me.
Was it at night?
Yeah, it was at night.
What was it about?
I’m not gonna get into it. I think it would hurt me with my thing with Mueller. I’m not getting into it.
Also, here’s the full CNN interview Nunberg had with CNN’s Erin Burnett, where the host asks him towards the end of the interview if he had been drinking, citing that she smells alcohol on him.
The past 36 hours have been popcorn-worthy.***
As Cortney wrote yesterday, former Trump aide Sam Nunberg went on a daylong media blitz Monday that was totally off the rails, but the news media couldn’t get enough of it. He flat out said he wouldn’t comply with the subpoena he received from Special Counsel Robert Mueller and dared him to put him in cuffs.
“Let him [Mueller] arrest me,” said Nunberg. He’s also said that former foreign policy adviser to Trump, Carter Page, colluded with the Russians, and that the Mueller probe might have something on the president. Yet, we have to take this with a grain of salt since Nunberg has admitted to lying to various reporters about certain stories, namely the one about former NJ Gov. Chris Christie getting McDonald’s for Trump. Still, the Trump White House plans to cooperate with the Muller investigation. Nunberg’s media circus was all over the place, where he took swipes at Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, calling her a “fat slob” (via The Hill):
"I have real work to do. I have to earn a living," Nunberg now on set on @MSNBC justifying why he doesn't want to appear again before the grand jury.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 5, 2018
"I'm not going to jail. You think I'm going to jail?" concludes Nunberg on @MSNBC segment where other panelists try to advise him he most likely will go to jail if he doesn't adhere to the special counsel's request to return to testify.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 5, 2018
And now Nunberg is shuttling back to the @CNN studio: https://t.co/8ixBfQG4sY
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 5, 2018
In an interview with The Washington Post, Nunberg said Mueller’s request was too burdensome and that he would not comply with the order. He dared Mueller to throw him in jail.
The networks scrambled to book Nunberg following that bombshell declaration, allowing him to call in remotely and ramble for large blocks of time in which he contradicted himself, insulted various former colleagues and White House officials, asked two anchors for legal advice and called Mueller a “moron.”
“I think it would be funny if they arrested me,” he said in an interview with NBC.
Nunberg’s credibility has taken a few hits in Washington. He has privately bragged to reporters about planting fake stories in the press and publicly admitted to making up a story that went viral about former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) picking up McDonald’s food for then-candidate Trump.
[…]
He was all over the place explaining his thinking in cable news interviews.
Nunberg called the special counsel a “waste of time” on NBC and described it as a “witch hunt” to CNN.
But in the NBC interview and in a second interview later on CNN, Nunberg said he thinks the special counsel has evidence of criminal wrongdoing against the president.
“I think he may have done something during the election,” Nunberg told NBC.
“I am not a fan of Donald Trump,” he added at one point. “He treated me like crap, OK?”
The White House responded, calling Nunberg’s claims about criminal wrongdoing “incorrect.”
“As we said many times before, there was no collusion with the Trump campaign,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Anything further on what his actions are — he hasn’t worked at the White House. I can't speak to him or the lack of knowledge that he clearly has.”
Sanders said that whether Nunberg complies with the subpoena or not, the White House would continue working with Mueller in hopes of bringing the investigation to a swift conclusion.
Things Sam Nunberg said on TV:
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 5, 2018
-Carter Page colluded with Russia
-Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting in advance
-Mueller may have something on Trump.
-Trump bodyguard told him Emin Agalarov offered to send women to Trump's Moscow hotel room in 2013
So...@ErinBurnett just asked #SamNunberg if he has had alcohol or anything else today because she’s sitting close to him and had smelled alcohol. He said no, except his meds.
— Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) March 6, 2018
I have never seen anything like this.
His latest interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett was notable for the host’s inquiring about whether Nunberg had consumed any alcohol or drugs; Nunberg said he’s only taken his anti-depressant medication.
Yet, Nunberg can’t just ignore a federal subpoena. Yes, his “screw that” attitude has certainly been somewhat entertaining, but U.S. Marshals can arrest him and if he refuses to comply, he could be thrown in jail for contempt of court. Backward reels the mind to Susan McDougal, who was a business partner with Bill Clinton, and her refusal to answer questions about the then-president’s financial records. She served 18 months in jail, but received a full pardon from Clinton in one of his last acts in office.