Trump on Comey ‘tapes’: ‘I can’t talk about that’
President Trump during a new interview refused to discuss his tweeted warning to former FBI Director James Comey.
“Well, that I can’t talk about,” Trump told Fox News’s Jeanine Pirro in the clip released Friday. “I won’t talk about that. All I want is for Comey to be honest and I hope he will be, and I’m sure he will be, I hope.”
Trump also denied that he demanded Comey’s loyalty to him during a January dinner, something that has been reported by The New York Times and The Associated Press.
“No, I didn’t,” he said when asked if he gave that request. “But I don’t think it would be a bad question to ask. I think loyalty to the country, loyalty to the United States is important.”
“You know, I mean it depends on how you define loyalty, number one. Number two, I don’t know how that got there, because I didn’t ask that question.”
Trump earlier Friday issued a cryptic threat to Comey amid a flood of leaks to the media from the White House.
“James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” he said.
It is unclear what “tapes” Trump is referring to. White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday declined to clarify, and would not say whether Trump records conversations in the Oval Office.
“I’ve talked to the president,” he said. “The president has nothing further to add on that.”
CNN reported Friday that Comey is “not worried” about Trump’s suggestion that their conversations could have been recorded.
Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, generating a storm of speculation over the dismissal’s timing.
Comey’s ouster comes as the FBI probes Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including possible ties between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.
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