President Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to say that he did not make, and does not have, any taped recordings of his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.
The POTUS added that he has “no idea” if they were taped via electronic surveillance.
See his tweets regarding it below.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/877932907137966080
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/877932956458795008
Shortly after firing Comey last month, Trump tweeted a warning to the former director to leak anything negative about him and said he “better hope” that there are no secret “tapes” of their conversations. However, it has not been established as to whether any of the conversations of the two were actually recorded.
Comey, testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee two weeks ago, said he would welcome the release of recordings that he believed might corroborate his account of conversations with Trump seeking to shut down the Russia inquiry.
“Lordy, we hope there are tapes,” he said.
Comey also admitted during his testimony that he facilitated the leak of a memo of his Trump conversation in an attempt to spark the naming of a special counsel to lead the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the election. The gambit worked, and former FBI head Robert Mueller was named to lead the inquiry.
Earlier this month, when asked if tapes exist of his private conversations with Comey, Trump told reporters they’ll be “disappointed” with his answer.
“I’ll tell you about that sometime, maybe in the very near future,” Trump said during a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House.
The House Intelligence Committee investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election has requested information on whether the tapes exist but according to the president, there is nothing to hand over.