Former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg leaves the U.S. District Courthouse on March 9, after testifying before a grand jury for more than six hours. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Nunberg on grand jury testimony: 'Duty as an American, whether I like it or not'

Former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg on Saturday pushed back on criticism that his media blitz over a subpoena from special counsel Robert Mueller was a meltdown, adding it was always his intention to comply with the ongoing Russia investigation.

"People I say I had a meltdown on TV; I melted TV down that day," Nunberg told ABC News reporter Tara Palmeri. "I wanted to show what this independent counsel, this independent investigation does to people like me."


Nunberg on Friday testified before a grand jury for more than six hours in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Complying with the subpoena, Nunberg said, was something he felt he needed to do as an attorney and was his "duty as an American, whether I like it or not." If he did not comply, he risked being jailed.

On Monday, Nunberg publicly released his subpoena and flooded the cable news airwaves in a day-long campaign with his repeated declarations that he was going to stand up to Mueller. In an evening interview, CNN anchor Erin Burnett asked if Nunberg had been drinking. He denied the accusation.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters then that Nunberg had not worked in the White House and reemphasized there had been no collusion between Trump's campaign and the Russian government.

Despite Trump's insistence, Nunberg said the Russian investigation is not a witch hunt.

"There's a lot there, there. There's a lot of truth," Nunberg said. "I don't believe this leads to the president."