President Trump sent a flurry of tweets Friday morning, saying “The Fake Media is working overtime today!” and suggesting that there could be “tapes” of his private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.
Evan Vucci/AP
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Evan Vucci/AP
President Trump sent a flurry of tweets Friday morning, saying “The Fake Media is working overtime today!” and suggesting that there could be “tapes” of his private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.
Evan Vucci/AP
Updated: 11:35 a.m. ET
President Trump suggested on Twitter Friday morning there might be recordings of his private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey, whom he fired earlier this week, in an apparent attempt to caution Comey against “leaking to the press.”
The president seemed to be responding to news stories coming out since the Tuesday firing, which have contradicted the White House’s version of the events.
James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
In fact, in an NBC News interview this week, Trump himself said he was going to fire Comey regardless of the Justice Department’s recommendation, even though White House staff and even Vice President Pence had pointed to the recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier in the week.
Multiple outlets have reported that Trump asked Comey for his loyalty at a private dinner in January but that the then-FBI director “declined to make that pledge,” The New York Times reported.
It’s unclear whether the “tapes” Trump alluded to in his tweet would be audio or video recordings, or whether they exist at all. As The Washington Post pointed out, the president used a similar construction in his wiretapping accusations against former President Barack Obama.
…Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future “press briefings” and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
Soon after Trump’s tweets, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., requested that White House Counsel Donald McGahn to over any recordings of the president’s conversations with Comey to the House Oversight Committee. Krishnamoorthi also asked for any recording of Trump’s Wednesday meeting with Russian officials, and “any conversations regarding the hiring or firing” former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“These White House tapes could accelerate current investigations as previous tapes have aided past inquiries,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.
In his Friday morning tweetstorm, the president also suggested that his administration could do away with briefings for the press, and instead give out written statements.
Trump added that “as a very active president with lots of things happening,” it’s impossible for him to stay in such close communication with his staff that the briefings would be completely accurate.