People close to former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg worry he may have been "drinking again" during his multiple public appearances Monday defending his decision to not testify before a grand jury called by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The Daily Beast spoke to several friends of the former campaign aide fired early on during Trump's presidential run, many of whom said they thought Nunberg might be day drunk.
"Several of [Nunberg's] friends told The Daily Beast they were concerned that he was putting himself in severe legally jeopardy by going on multiple live cable-news programs Monday afternoon," the report notes. "They also said that they were worried Nunberg had been drinking prior to dialing in to MSNBC and CNN."
Those many interviews included the former aide's professed belief that Mueller "has something" on the president and a jab at White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who he called a "fat slob."
In one instance, Nunberg hung up on an associate who was trying to convince him "not to do anything stupid and to go to his parents’ house immediately." Minutes later, the report read, the man once sued by Donald Trump for "leaking" information to the press was on MSNBC with host Katy Tur, the first of multiple phone interviews throughout the afternoon.
During his in-person interview with MSNBC's Ari Melber later in the evening, Nunberg joked that he "wouldn't go to jail" before his co-panelist Maya Wiley, a New School executive and civil rights activist, tried to convince him otherwise.
Nunberg is getting legal advice from MSNBC guests. @mayawiley point blank told him he should testify... https://t.co/YBTVBHCdZJ— Brian Stelter (@Brian Stelter) 1520292688.0
GOP’er watching Nunberg live texts me: “He just guzzled an entire cup of water. “He’s laughing that he's not going… https://t.co/7w9uHH8y0i— Jennifer Jacobs (@Jennifer Jacobs) 1520294044.0
