« To destroy them would be a violation of the law, » Democratic leader says
Has Donald Trump been secretly recording his presidential conversations? It’s been the number-one question in the political world after the president took to Twitter last Friday and of the former FBI director James Comey. While the White House has finally settled on to offer further comment after bungling the explanation for Comey’s firing for days, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are now calling on Trump to relinquish any recording with the former FBI director. “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” last week. The threat to expose Comey was probably a reference to a claim that the president made in the he sent the FBI director. “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, ” Trump wrote, apparently alluding to the ongoing FBI investigation into Russian attempts to interfere in the last presidential election and contacts that Trump campaign officials had with the government of Vladimir Putin. Trump has insisted he had no involvement in the alleged activities and has frequently chafed at the investigation as it has continued and expanded. In public statements, White House officials initially said that they believed firing Comey, who had been previously criticized by many Democrats, would have garnered accolades for the president instead of comparisons to former president Richard Nixon. The possible existence of secret White House recordings is another real Nixon parallel.
