Democrats demand Trump release the alleged Comey tapes — or admit he made them up
Nobody has any idea what President Trump meant when he tweeted that former FBI Director James Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press," but if such tapes do actually exist, the Democrats want to see them.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the president "should immediately provide any such recordings to Congress or admit, once again, to have made a deliberately misleading — and in this case threatening — statement."
The top Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight committees, John Conyers Jr. (Mich.) and Elijah Cummings (Md.), also issued a letter requesting "all documents, memoranda, analysis, emails, and other communications relating to the president's decision to dismiss Director Comey." Conyers and Cummings additionally pointed out that it is a crime to intimidate or threaten potential witnesses.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Private citizens are trying their own ways to get their hands on any information about the alleged tapes:
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer refused to deny that Trump has recorded conversations in the Oval Office.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Political cartoons for November 1Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include insurance premiums, early voting in NYC, and more
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
Meet Ireland’s new socialist presidentIn the Spotlight Landslide victory of former barrister and ‘outsider’ Catherine Connolly could ‘mark a turning point’ in anti-establishment politics
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
