Nick Akerman, a former assistant special Watergate prosecutor, was prompted on Saturday to discuss the hypothetical situation in which President Trump defies a subpoena to interview with special counsel Robert Mueller by locking himself in the White House.
During a panel on MSNBC, hosted by Joy Reid, Akerman was asked who would be able to force Trump to comply with a subpoena from Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
Akerman said it would be a federal district court judge, and when asked who they would enforce it, he explained, “At that point, they would make a motion to hold Donald Trump in contempt.”
“The question would be what would the federal district court judge do in terms of a remedy? Normally, a person who refuses to testify before a grand jury winds up being incarcerated for the time period of the grand jury, which can be up to 18 months,” Akerman added. “So, one way to enforce it is to have Donald Trump taken by the federal marshals and put in federal prison until he testifies.”
Reid then chimed in, asking what would happen if Trump refuses to open the White House doors to keep federal marshals out and fires any Secret Service agents who defy his orders.
“At some point, he has to come out of the White House,” Akerman replied. “The U.S. Marshals will be directed to take him into custody, bring him before the federal district court judge. He’ll be basically told that either he goes in and he testifies or he takes the Fifth Amendment. If he takes the Fifth Amendment, there’s not a problem. If he refuses to answer on the ground that a truthful answer would tend to incriminate him, he has the right to do that. If he does that, there’s no contempt. If he doesn’t do that, he can be directed to go directly to jail, do not pass go. Do not collect $200. End of story.”
The discussion came one day after CNN reported that Trump has begun prep work for a possible interview with Mueller.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said this week that there have been ongoing discussions between Trump and his legal team about meeting with Mueller.
According to the Washington Post, Mueller informed Trump’s legal team earlier this week that although Trump is not a criminal target in his investigation, he remains a subject of the probe.
