Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday said that if President Donald Trump made “tapes” of his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey, Congress should issue a subpoena for those recordings.
On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Schiff questioned Trump’s account of a conversation with former FBI Director James Comey.
“Can you prove obstruction based on the President’s own words when we don’t know whether we can believe this President?” Schiff said. “If there are tapes, of course, that would be the best evidence of what took place.”
Trump on Friday tweeted: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer subsequently refused to clarify whether Trump records conversations in the Oval Office, and said he was “not aware” whether Trump recorded his exchanges with Comey.
Democratic lawmakers asked the White House to turn over any such recordings, and alleged that Trump’s tweet raised the possibility of “obstruction of justice.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also called on Trump to hand over any recordings and “clear the air.”
“You can’t be cute about tapes,” Graham said.
Schiff on Sunday said Trump “needs to come clean” about whether his claim was “yet another fabrication” or whether he did indeed record his conversations with Comey.
“If they exist, Congress needs to get them,” Schiff said on Sunday. “If they’re not provided willingly, Congress should subpoena them.”
