WASHINGTON—He has no tapes.U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged Thursday that he did not record his White House conversations with former FBI director James Comey, revealing that he was deceitfully bluffing when he mentioned the possibility of tapes in a Twitter post in May.“With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, 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 said on Twitter.Trump’s admission amounts to a rare public concession that his words were not based in fact. He will now face questions about why he appeared to threaten Comey with the prospect of imaginary recordings.“‘Bluff’ is a generous term for it ... sharper words also come to mind,” Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter.Trump and his spokespeople had repeatedly refused to respond when asked if recordings existed. He provided the answer a day before a deadline set by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence Committee.His May 12 threat set off a damaging chain of events. Comey said the tweet made him feel compelled to disclose his own memos of their exchanges in the hope that he could prompt the appointment of a special counsel. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, was indeed appointed, and Mueller appears to be investigating the possibility that Trump committed obstruction of justice.Trump posted the fateful tweet three days after he fired Comey. He wrote on Twitter: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” He appeared to be responding to a New York Times article that included an account of a private dinner the two men had in January. The sources were anonymous, but Comey later acknowledged he had passed de ...
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