What happens if Trump refuses a subpoena from Mueller? Judge Nap has answers

Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano explained what would happen if special counsel Robert Mueller issued a subpoena for President Donald Trump to testify on the Russian investigation, and if the president refused to answer it.

Here's what Judge Napolitano said

Napolitano was the guest on Fox News' "Outnumbered," and was answering questions about a possible subpoena from special counsel Mueller and whether the president could simply ignore it.

"What happens if the president doesn't show up for a subpoena?" asked co-host Lisa Kennedy.

"Well, they could get an order requiring him to show, and there the Supreme Court is very clear," Napolitano responded, "if a federal court orders the president to do something, he has to do it."

'A constitutional crisis'

"If he refuses," he continued, "then we have a constitutional crisis between two branches -— the judiciary and the executive."

"That's what happened in United States versus [Richard] Nixon," Napolitano explained, "where President Nixon refused to surrender the tapes and that went all the way to the Supreme Court and they said, you have no choice. And he did eventually comply, we know how it ended."

He was referring, of course, to Nixon resigning the presidency before impeachment proceedings could continue over the Watergate cover-up.

Napolitano also said that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was wrong in saying that Trump could not be indicted, adding that there are two Justice Department memos offering guidance on the issue, and one says that he can be indicted.

Napolitano also explained that Trump could simply refuse to answer questions according to his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He added that Giuliani could challenge the subpoena in court as well.

Here's the video of Judge Napolitano's comments:

The White House and Mueller's team have been in negotiations for the president to answer questions in the investigation for weeks, but some reports indicate that talks have broken down and the White House is readying itself to face a possible subpoena.