Sam Nunberg doubts Russia probe ‘leads to’ Trump

Published March 10, 2018 4:06pm ET



Sam Nunberg, a former aide from the Trump presidential campaign, said in his first interview since appearing before a grand jury Friday that he doesn’t think special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election leads to President Trump.

However, he doesn’t believe it is a “witch hunt,” as Trump likes to call the investigation.

Speaking with ABC News’ Tara Palmeri for “Good Morning America,” Nunberg gave some insight into what he was asked in federal court over several hours of testimony.

“Did I ever hear Russian spoken in the office? And then, they asked about why did President Trump support [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Syria,” he said, adding that he wanted Trump to win and is “taking advantage” of the president.

When it comes to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin – something which the Mueller team is looking into – Nunberg said there is “a lot of there there,” but “I don’t believe it leads to the president.”

That statement stands in contrast to what he said during his media blitz earlier in the week when he suggested Trump might be in some trouble. He told CNN Trump “may very well have done something during the election with the Russians.”

Palmeri said a source claims that Nunberg may be called back to testify again – up to five times.

It was a tumultuous week for Nunberg, who on Monday grabbed headlines when he claimed he would defy a subpoena from Mueller as part of his wide-ranging Russia probe and made a spectacle of himself this week on television, at one point being asked by CNN anchor Erin Burnett if he drank alcohol before his on-air interview.

Nunberg shot back at the criticism he received for what was widely reported as a “meltdown,” claiming he was putting on a show.

“People say I had a meltdown on TV. I melted down TV that day,” he said. “I wanted to show what this independent counsel, this independent investigation, does to people like me.”

During an interview on MSNBC on Monday, Nunberg said Mueller is “trying” to build a case against longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, whom Nunberg has described as a mentor of sorts. Following up on ABC, Nunberg said he was “very worried”‘ about Stone, who has denied being involved in collusion with the Russians. Nunberg also said that he personally “never worked with anybody that was unethical” while working with the Trump team.

Nunberg was fired by Trump in 2014 following a critical interview of Trump, and then rehired as a communications adviser to his campaign in February 2015. He was then fired later that month after a series of old racist Facebook posts surfaced.

So far, Mueller’s investigation has charged 19 people and three Russian companies, and yielded five guilty pleas.