The Senate’s top Democrat demanded Thursday that President Trump “play the tapes” of any conversations he had with fired FBI Director James B. Comey, saying that unless the White House produces recordings, it cannot contradict Mr. Comey’s “eye-opening” testimony.
“Play the tapes for all of America to hear or admit that there were no tapes,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor, hours after Mr. Comey testified to the intelligence committee.
Mr. Schumer said Mr. Comey helped clear up some questions but said he sparked new questions about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ role in the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Mr. Comey’s testimony, spanning two and a half hours, derailed a number of theories and reports in the press that Mr. Trump himself was under investigation. But Mr. Comey did say he felt pressured during a conversation with Mr. Trump to drop a look into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Mr. Trump, on Twitter, had ominously warned Mr. Trump he’d better hope there weren’t any tapes of the conversation. Mr. Comey on Thursday said he hoped there were tapes.
The White House has since clammed up, declining to say whether there were tapes and mocking reporters’ questions when asked to investigate the matter.
“It’s awfully curious that no one from the president’s team will either confirm or deny the existence of tapes,” Mr. Schumer said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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