President Donald Trump may not be live-tweeting during former FBI director James Comey’s testimony in a Senate hearing, but others are not so shy.
Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney who was also fired by Trump after assurances by the president that he would continue in his role as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, weighed in on Twitter Thursday from inside the Capitol.
“We can all agree with Jim Comey that, Lordy, we hope there are tapes,” Bharara tweeted — repeating Comey’s statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee that some of the then-FBI director’s conversations with the president might have been recorded and could perhaps corroborate his version of those encounters.
Last month, Trump tweeted a warning to Comey not to leak anything negative abut him and that he “better hope” that there are no secret “tapes” of their conversations — it has not been established whether any of the conversations of the two were actually recorded.
In March, Bharara was removed from his position as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he had gained a reputation for effective prosecution of high-profile cases involving corrupt politicians, terrorists, cyber hackers and white-collar criminals.
He also reported to Comey when he served as the top federal prosecutor in New York, according to the Washington Post.
Bharara also worked as chief counsel for Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who invited him to attend Thursday’s hearing.
We can all agree with Jim Comey that, Lordy, we hope there are tapes.
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) June 8, 2017