On Thursday, President Donald Trump tweeted that he did not record any conversations with former FBI Director James Comey, nor does he have any recordings. This comes after Trump previously tweeted, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Today’s tweets mean that Trump’s former comment was merely an empty threat or the hope that someone else possibly recorded the conversations, according to The New York Times.
…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
Trump fired then-FBI Director Comey in May because of an investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. The tapes—which still may or may not exist—could confirm a story that Trump asked Comey to pledge loyalty to Trump after the inauguration, but Comey rejected special requests that he considered inappropriate. Trump’s original threat (about Comey hoping the tapes didn’t exist) could be considered obstruction of justice if it was threatening Comey not to speak about the FBI issue.
Comey, however, is desperately hoping there is recorded evidence of Trump’s awkward requests. Comey famously said, “Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” during his Senate hearing. During the past six weeks, Trump neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the tapes. However, top government officials and agencies who normally track White House information said that no official recording system exists, according to CNN.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the tapes even exist or ever come to light, but it’s looking unlikely after Trump himself finally denied that he currently has the recordings.