Trump admits there are no Comey tapes

WASHINGTON - Ending a lengthy guessing game that he started with a cryptic tweet and that ensnared his administration in yet more controversy, US President Donald Trump on Thursday declared he never made and doesn't have recordings of his private conversations with ousted former FBI director James Comey.

"With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information," Trump tweeted he has "no idea" whether there are "tapes" or recordings of the two men's conversations. But he proclaimed "I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings".

That left open the possibility recordings were made without his knowledge or by someone else. But he largely appeared to close the saga just days after he fired Comey, then the head of an investigation into Trump associates' ties to Russian officials.

Trump has disputed Comey's version of a January dinner during which the director said the president had asked for a pledge of loyalty.

Trump said at that time Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"

That apparently angry missive triggered a series of consequences, each weightier than the last. Comey has suggested that the tweet prompted him to ask an associate to release damaging information to the media.

The resulting news reports built pressure on a top Justice Department official to appoint an independent prosecutor to oversee the investigation.

That special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, is now reportedly investigating Trump's own actions in a probe that could dog his presidency for the foreseeable future.

Trump showed concern about that situation as well, telling Fox News Channel in an interview that Mueller is "very, very good friends with Comey, which is bothersome".

They worked together at the Justice Department in the Bush administration.

Asked whether Mueller should step down from the probe because of his friendship with Comey, Trump said: "We're going to have to see."

Thursday's revelation came a day ahead of a deadline to turn over any tapes to the House committee.

The timing drew attention away from the release of the Senate's healthcare bill, which the White House hopes can provide Trump a much-needed victory to boost his rating.

AP - AFP