US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had not recorded his conversations with James Comey, the FBI director he fired amid the Justice Department's investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia.
"With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking, and illegal leaking of information," Mr. Trump said in a pair of tweets shortly before 1pm, "I have no idea …. whether there are 'tapes' of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, such recordings."
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Trump confirms bluff on taped conversations
After spending weeks fanning the mystery, Trump revealed on Twitter that he doesn't have and didn't make any tapes of his conversations with former FBI director James Comey.
...whether there are "tapes" or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017
Mr Trump's statement brings to an end speculation that began shortly after accounts emerged about the president's exchanges with Mr Comey – speculation that Mr. Trump himself began with a tweet that warned the former FBI director that there might have been tapes of their conversations.
![US President Donald Trump had called for a shutdown of Muslims entering the US during his campaign.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170629201712im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/v/7/i/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwwsuy.png/1498518011635.jpg)
Mr Trump appeared at the time to be referring to an article in The New York Times reporting that he had asked Mr Comey to pledge loyalty during a dinner at the White House shortly after the inauguration, only to be rebuffed by the FBI director, who considered the request inappropriate.
The president's tweets on Thursday left open the possibility that the conversations may have been taped without his knowledge. But they largely confirmed the suspicions of outsiders that Mr Trump had been levelling a baseless threat at Mr Comey on May 12, when he wrote, "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
Some legal experts have said that Mr Trump's threat could be used in an obstruction of justice case against him, since it could be interpreted as putting pressure on Mr Comey not to discuss their conversations about the FBI's Russia investigation.
Earlier this month, Mr Comey testified in detail about those conversations, saying the president had appealed to him on multiple occasions not to pursue an investigation of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his alleged links to Russian officials.
Asked during the Senate hearing whether he worried about the existence of tapes, Mr Comey replied, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes."
Mr. Trump's announcement, however expected, distracted from the release of the Republican health care legislation in the Senate on Thursday.
"The president's statement via Twitter is extremely clear," said the deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, during an off-camera briefing with reporters. "I don't have anything to add to the statement."
Mrs Sanders said that Mr Trump had promised to deliver an answer on the existence of the tapes by the end of the week, and that he had delivered on that promise. She also said she did not believe his intention in his original Twitter post about tapes had been to intimidate Mr Comey.
New York Times