Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday that President Trump should voluntarily turn over recordings of a private conversation he had with ousted FBI director James Comey if the tapes exist.
“This is an issue the president should have cleared up in his press conference,” said Ms. Collins, Maine Republican, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He should voluntarily turn them over.”
Mr. Trump previously suggested he had tapes of their conversation, after Mr. Comey alleged Mr. Trump directed him to end the investigation into his former national security advisor Michael Flynn and also asked for loyalty.
But Mr. Trump refused to confirm whether or not the tapes exist during a press conference on Friday.
“I’ll tell you about that maybe sometime in the near future,” said Mr. Trump.
On Friday, the House Intelligence Committee asked the White House to turn over any tapes that exist by June. 23.
Ms. Collins said Sunday she doesn’t believe a subpoena is necessary, but if one were to be issued, it would most likely come from the special counsel.
She said it was “clearly wrong” for the president to direct the investigation into Mr. Flynn be stopped, but Mr. Comey should have told the president his request was inappropriate.
“There are a lot of people in government that should have tried to set him straight,” the Republican senator said of the president.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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