U.S. President
Donald Trump said on Thursday he had not obstructed the FBI's probe into
alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and had
not recorded his conversations with former FBI chief James Comey.Comey
was leading the investigation into allegations Russia tried to sway the
election toward Trump and the possibility Trump associates colluded
with Moscow when the president fired him on May 9, sparking a political
firestorm.
"Look there has been no
obstruction, there has been no collusion," Trump told Fox News Channel
in an interview set to air on Friday. Fox released a partial transcript
of the interview on Thursday.
The
former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified before a
Senate committee that Trump had asked him to drop a probe into former
national security adviser Michael Flynn's alleged ties to Russia.
Earlier
on Thursday, Trump said he did not make and does not possess any tapes
of his conversations with Comey, after suggesting last month he might
have recordings that could undercut Comey's description of events.
"I
have no idea whether there are 'tapes' or recordings of my
conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any
such recordings," Trump wrote on Twitter.
Lawmakers
investigating allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election
had asked the White House for any such recordings.
Shortly after dismissing Comey, Trump mentioned the possibility of tapes in a Twitter post.
"James
Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before
he starts leaking to the press!" Trump tweeted on May 12.
Allegations
of ties to Russia have cast a shadow over Trump's first five months in
office, distracting from attempts by his fellow Republicans in Congress
to overhaul the U.S. healthcare and tax systems.
Trump
has privately told aides that the threat of the existence of tapes
forced Comey to tell the truth in his recent testimony, a source
familiar with the situation said.
Adam
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence
Committee, said Trump still had questions to answer about possible
tapes.
"If the president had no
tapes, why did he suggest otherwise? Did he seek to mislead the public?
Was he trying to intimidate or silence James Comey? And if so, did he
take other steps to discourage potential witnesses from speaking out?"
Schiff said in a statement.
CNN
reported on Thursday that two top U.S. intelligence officials told
investigators Trump suggested they publicly deny any collusion between
his campaign and Russia, but that they did not feel he had ordered them
to do so.
Director of National
Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Admiral
Mike Rogers met separately last week with investigators for special
counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee, according
to CNN.
The two officials said they were surprised at
Trump's suggestion and found their interactions with him odd and
uncomfortable, but they did not act on the president's requests, CNN
reported, citing sources familiar with their accounts.
In
his interview with Fox, Trump expressed concern about what he described
as the close relationship between Comey and Mueller, who was appointed
to take over the investigation after Comey was fired.
"Well he's very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome," Trump said, according to the Fox transcript.
The
Kremlin has denied U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that Moscow
tried to tilt the election in Trump's favor, using such means as hacking
into the emails of senior Democrats.
Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.
--Reuters
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