Helene Vincent
On Wednesday afternoon, President Trump took to Twitter to clarify his recent assertions about possessing tapes of his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.
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RELATED: President Trump fires back at White House reporters over James Comey’s statements
It was the first moment of clarity in a public ordeal that has spanned months. Trump said in a tweet on May 12, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Thereafter, during his testimony on Capitol Hill two weeks ago, James Comey welcomed of the release of these taps if they existed, exclaiming, “Lordy, I hope there are tapes!”
But as Trump spoke with Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt following his mea culpa, he defended his decision to suggest that he had secret tapes of his meeting with Comey.
.@POTUS on why he wanted former FBI Dir. James Comey to believe there were tapes of their conversations pic.twitter.com/pCuibM5Z6k
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) June 23, 2017
Trump’s response to Earhardt inquiring why he wanted Comey to think their conversations has been taped:
“I don’t have any tape and I didn’t tape. But when he found out that there may be tapes out there, whether it’s governmental tapes or anything else…I think his story may have changed. You will have to take a look at that because then he has to tell what actually took place at the events, and my story didn’t change. My story was always a straight story. My story was always the truth, but you’ll have to determine for yourself whether or not his story changed.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s actions during the 2016 election is still ongoing.
