Lordy, there are no tapes

Well, it wasn’t quite the reality show reveal that we might have come to expect, given President Trump’s recent play-acting over the mythical Comey “tapes.” After a six-week-long con we would not have been surprised if Trump had summoned the White House press corps to stage a dramatic show — pushing “play” on a recorder that emitted only silence.

But the president yesterday did finally admit that, in fact, there

are no Comey tapes — and with that he pulled the attention of the Beltway press corps and the public away from a critical legislative issue (health care reform, which we discuss above).

It seems that after nearly two months of perpetuating a falsehood — and with Congress calling his bluff — it was simply time for Trump to admit that his private conversations with nowfired FBI director James Comey were not recorded, and his taunting tweet on May 12 suggesting they might have been was a pointless lie.

Trump, of course, had dangled the possibility of recorded conversations in a clear effort to intimidate Comey, who had begun seeing to it (albeit anonymously) that his side of the story was getting out.

But even Trump’s tweets yesterday didn’t provide crystal clarity on the matter. “With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea...whether there are ‘tapes’ or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.” So Trump has no tapes, but hey,

someone might have been recording their conversations. And down another rabbit-hole we all plunge.

This is an incomprehensible way for any president to behave, never mind to govern. Trump and his team could have spent yesterday promoting the Senate health care bill, celebrating the willingness of senators to make changes to the bill at his request. Instead the former casino magnate copped to a cheap, worthless bluff.