There are no tapes of Comey, Trump says

President ends speculation about recordings of talks with then-FBI director.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he does not have “tapes” of his private conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey, finally ending a mystery of his own creation that began last month when he suggested that he had privately recorded their talks.

Trump on May 12 floated the idea he had an audio record of their conversations. For 51⁄2 weeks, the president and senior White House officials refused to tell the public whether such tapes exist.

But after an inquiry from congressional investigators about the tapes, Trump tweeted Thursday:

“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.”

On May 12, a day after details of a one-on-one dinner he had with Comey were reported by The New York Times, Trump issued an apparent threat to the former FBI director, whom he fired May 9.

“James B. Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Trump tweeted.

In the weeks since, Trump, White House press secretary Sean Spicer and other top officials have repeatedly been pressed on whether the president had such “tapes” and whether he records private conversations in the White House. They declined to provide answers each time.

At a June 9 news conference, Trump played coy when asked whether the “tapes” exist. He told reporters they would have to wait “a fairly short period of time” to find out.

“Oh, you’re going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer,” Trump said. “Don’t worry.”

Comey, meanwhile, effectively dared Trump to release whatever “tapes” he may have.

“Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” Comey said in his Senate testimony earlier this month.

At an off-camera briefing for White House reporters, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to put the issue to bed. “I think the president’s statement via Twitter today is extremely clear, and I don’t have anything to add beyond the statement itself,” she said.

She was peppered with questions about his statement, however, during the remainder of the 20-minute briefing and provided short answers that shed little light on Trump’s motivation.

Why the game? Sanders was asked.

“I don’t know that it was a game,” Sanders said, relaying that Trump had pledged to provide an answer by the end of the week to whether he was aware of recordings and he did that.

Was the president’s original suggestion on Twitter that there could be recordings meant to threaten Comey?

“Not that I’m aware of, I don’t think so,” Sanders said.

Does the president regret his original tweet?

“I don’t think so,” she said.

Did the president ever have recordings of Comey?

“Not that I’m aware of,” Sanders said.

Was Trump concerned that he was under surveillance by others while in the Oval Office?

“I don’t know specifically if there’s a direct concern,” Sanders said.

For the lawmakers on Capitol Hill who were demanding Trump provide information by Friday about the tapes’ existence, his tweet does not settle the matter.

“We have to have an official statement; tweets aren’t official,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who is running the House intelligence committee’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Until they get that official response, Conaway said, he would not comment on whether a subpoena may still be issued.

He added that it was “good for (Trump) to clarify” his position and that “you always take the president at his word — until it’s proven otherwise.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, DCalif., the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, also said the president’s tweet was not sufficient.

“We’d all like to believe that our president can be trusted when he says something; regrettably, though, he has repeatedly proved otherwise,” Schiff said.

Mark Warner of Virginia, top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said, “This administration never ceases to amaze me.” He said the tweeting is an example of Trump’s “willingness to just kind of make things up.”

“It’s remarkable the president was so flippant to make his original tweet and then frankly stonewall the media and the country for weeks,” Warner said. “I don’t know how this serves the country’s interests.”

ALEX BRANDON/AP Former FBI Director James Comey testifies June 8 about his talks with President Trump.