WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan leaders on the House Intelligence Committee are threatening a subpoena if the White House doesn’t clarify whether any recordings, memoranda or other documents exist of President Donald Trump’s meetings with fired FBI Director James Comey.
The panel had previously set a June 23 deadline for the White House to respond to the panel’s request. The day before, Trump said in a series of tweets that he “did not make, and do not have, any such recordings” but also said he has “no idea” if tapes or recordings of his conversations with Comey exist.
In a June 23 letter, the White House responded to the committee request by referring to Trump’s tweets.
The committee had asked for any recordings after Trump suggested there may be tapes. He did so just days after he fired Comey, who was leading an investigation into Trump associates’ ties to Russian officials. Trump has disputed Comey’s assertion that the president asked him for a pledge of loyalty during a dinner meeting they had.
When news of Comey’s account broke, Trump tweeted that Comey “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”
