Former Trump associate David Nunberg told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he will defy a subpoena from the grand jury investigating Trump campaign connections to Russia, saying, “I’m not going.”
Tapper asked, “You’re not going?”
“I’m not going to the grand jury. I’m not going to spend 30 hours going over my e-mails. I’m not doing it. Why do I have to do it?”
“You have testified before the grand jury already, right?” Tapper said.
“No. I met with them and they were very professional,” Nunberg answered. “By the way, I was very impressed. But what I’m not doing is following up with it. I think Mueller has enough on Trump. He doesn’t need me to start giving him information on Roger Stone and Steve Bannon. Jake, I communicated with Roger Stone and Steve Bannon 15 times a day. So I have to spend 80 hours going over e-mails?”
“Well, I agree that it seems like a lot of time,” Tapper said, “But it is law enforcement telling you that you have to do it. That’s what a subpoena is. Are you actually willing to go to jail for this?”
Nunberg said, “I’m not cooperating. Arrest me.”
Tapper responded, “You’re not cooperating, arrest you?”
“Yes. I’m not cooperating,” Nunberg said. “You’re going to arrest me, arrest me. Because you know what? I’m not a fan of Donald Trump, Jake.”
I expect Mr. Nunberg to change his mind once he is charged with contempt. But Nunberg is only expressing the same frustration with Mueller that just about anyone — partisan or non partisan — should be feeling.
Mueller’s got nothing on nobody except people lying to the FBI and crimes committed before they joined the campaign. He has no evidence of Russian “collusion” on anyone — Don, Jr., Manafort, Bannon, Kushner — no one. What he has are news headlines designed to generate suspicion, imaginary dot connecting, and guilt by association. If they’ve had contact with anyone from Russia, it’s collusion, by God, and we should impeach Trump.
To be honest, none of the principles from the campaign being looked at in this investigation are honorable people. Manafort, especially, is a slimeball. Carter Page is a pathetic braggart who deserved the FBI investigation for claiming — falsely — that he was a Russian advisor. Like many rich people, they wheel, they deal, they skirt the edge of legality, and probably cross it once or twice.
You don’t need a special counsel to investigate financial malfeasance that is unrelated to politics or government. An ordinary district attorney can handle that if they wish. But the entire Mueller investigation has degenerated into a classic witch hunt, looking for Russians under the bed and in the closet while not finding a shred of proof that anyone on the Trump campaign committed treason by working with the Russians to swing the election.
Funny how we never hear exactly what it is Democrats and the media is accusing Trump and his aides of doing: committing treasonous acts against the government and people of the United States. They don’t say it out loud because it sounds preposterous — and it is.
Not all 145 million Russians know Putin or want to interfere in our elections. They are not all connected to oligarchs or the Russian clandestine services. But the media knows that if they use a Russian name in connection with anyone associated with Trump, the narrative is served and the dream of overturning an election where the worst Democratic candidate in party history couldn’t beat a boastful, lying, ignorant, lout of a man is realized.
Nunberg’s defiance is admirable. Standing up to a tyrannical, out of control prosecutor always is. But until honorable Republicans and Democrats put their foot down and stop Robert Mueller from continuing his ever widening, ever expanding, out of control investigation, this national nightmare will continue.
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