Former FBI director James Comey reportedly does want to testify about alleged ties between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign - but only if it is in public.

Comey declined on Friday to testify behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee after he was invited to appear next Tuesday.

But a source close to the ousted FBI director told the New York Times that Comey is willing to testify in public.

Before his firing on Tuesday, Comey had been scheduled to appear in Thursday's hearings – one in public and another more revealing classified session.

Andrew McCabe, who became acting director when Comey was sacked, appeared in his place since Comey was no longer a government official.

President Donald Trump seemed to throw him a brushback pitch on Twitter, writing Friday that Comey had 'better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!'

Former FBI director James Comey (right) reportedly does want to testify about alleged ties between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign - but only if it is in public

The White House wouldn't rule out, hours later, the possibility that the president's three known conversations with his then-FBI chief were recorded.

Trump has claimed that Comey told him on all three occasions that he wasn't personally under investigation.

According to unnamed friends of Comey's who are leaking his thoughts to reporters, he is hoping to hear his own voice and Trump's on recordings of his presidential chit-chat

Comey is 'not worried about any tapes' of those talks between him and the president, according to CNN, who quoted a Comey friend saying that 'if there is a tape, there's nothing he is worried about.'

NBC News has its own secret access to Comey's inner circle, with one person close to him saying: 'He hopes there are tapes. That would be perfect.'

White House press secretary Sean Spicer wouldn't rule out the possibility during Friday's briefing.

'The president has nothing further to add,' he said several times. Asked directly whether the White House is taping Trump's phone calls , he wouldn't give a yes-or-no answer.

And when asked if it was proper for the president to threaten his former FBI director into silence, Spicer said the tweet was 'not a threat. He's simply stating a fact.'

An NBC White House reporter spoke with a Comey confidant who said the fired FBI chief is hoping the tapes exists; CNN made a similar report based on another unnamed source

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday afternoon that the president wouldn't have any further comments about the tweet, which he denied was a 'threat' to Comey; he also wouldn't confirm or deny that the White House records the president's phone calls

Trump's veiled threat is said to have enraged Comey, who believes it would be 'perfect' to have a record of his discussions with the president

It's also possible that the FBI or the Justice Department was openly recording, or secretly monitoring, Comey's calls. A request for information from the DOJ went unanswered on Friday.

Trump said Thursday during an interview with NBC News that the two men have spoken at least three times since Inauguration Day.

And on those occasions, he insisted, Comey assured him that he was not personally the subject of any federal investigations.

'He said it once at dinner and then he said it twice during phone calls,' Trump said.

He described a matter-of-fact exchange over dinner in which he asked an unusual question and got an unconventional response.

'I said, "If it's possible would you let me know, am I under investigation?" Trump recalled.

'He said, "You are not under investigation".'

Spicer was asked Friday whether or not the White House had a recording of that dinnertime conversation, and replied: 'I'm not aware of that.'

It is rare for a federal law enforcement official to tell anyone, including the President of the United States, whether they are being investigated.

Even if Comey doesn't speak to reporters about the circumstances behind his dismissal on Tuesday, he may have a high-profile venue to tell his side of the story.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked him to testify next week.

The latest twist from Trump amid reports that he demanded loyalty from James Comey during the private dinner at the White House back in January.

The claims from associates of the now fired FBI director. Comey had told associates that he was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with Trump seven days after the inauguration, the New York Times reports.

It was during the dinner that Trump reportedly asked Comey twice to pledge loyalty to him as the new Commander in Chief.

Sources say Comey declined to do so but said he told the President he would always be honest with him.

Meanwhile former national intelligence director James Clapper says Comey was uneasy about having dinner with President Donald Trump in January.

Clapper told MSNBC on Friday that he spoke briefly with Comey about the dinner before they attended a retirement celebration for Clapper.

The dinner was held on January 27 - and is now at the center of the dispute over Comey's sacking.

He says Comey mentioned that he had been invited to have dinner with Trump and was 'uneasy with it.'

Clapper says Comey was concerned about the 'optics' of that because it might appear that he or the FBI was not working independently of the White House.

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Friday that he doesn't know if the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in November's election

Clapper had said in March on 'Meet the Press' that he wasn't aware of any evidence to support the idea that Trumpworld worked with Moscow, but he changed his line on Friday

Clapper had said in March on 'Meet the Press' that he wasn't aware of any evidence to support the idea that Trumpworld worked with Moscow, but he changed his line on Friday

The president has gone ape on Twitter, leaning on Clapper's statements that the former top intelligence official now seems to be abandoning

Question: Asked if he agreed with the president's claim that the Trump-Russia investigation was a 'witch hunt,' Clapper responded: 'I don't believe it is, but that's kind of irrelevant.'

Clapper also pushed back on the president's description of Comey as a 'showboater' and White house claims that FBI agents were close to an uprising

'I witnessed personally the very high esteem and respect people in the FBI have, and still have, for Jim Comey,' he said.

The former director of national intelligence - who said in March that there was 'no evidence' the Trump campaign collluded with Russia 's election -meddling efforts - also changed his story on Friday, saying 'I don't know' if evidence exists.

Clapper told Andrea Mitchell that while he was America's top intelligence official, he typically allowed the BFI to decide how much information to share with him about counterintelligence investigations that had the potential to turn into criminal cases.

'So it's not surprising or abnormal that I would not have known about the investigation, or even more importantly the content of that investigation,' he said, talking about the FBI's Russia probe.

'So I don't know if there was collusion or not. I don't know if there's evidence of collusion or not, nor should I have in this particular context.'

Asked if he agreed with the president's claim that the Trump-Russia investigation was a 'witch hunt,' Clapper responded: 'I don't believe it is, but that's kind of irrelevant.'

'I think what needs to happen here is to clear this cloud, the cloud that is hanging over the administration, over the president, over the White House,' he said.

'And it would be in everyone's best interest to get to the bottom of this and for the country. Otherwise this is going to continue to linger as a dark cloud over – in my opinion – over this administration.'

The president has gone ape on Twitter, leaning on Clapper's statements that the former top intelligence official now seems to be abandoning

Clapper first appeared to give Trump a clean bill of counterintelligence health during a March appearance on NBC's 'Meet the Press' program, saying a multi-agency assessment had included no evidence that Trumpworld worked with Moscow to tilt the November election in the president's favor.

'We did not include any evidence in our report – and I say, 'our,' that's NSA, FBI and CIA, with my office, the Director of National Intelligence – that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report,' he said then.

Asked if such evidence exists, he replied: 'Not to my knowledge.'