Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) slammed the Trump administration for contradictory statements over why former FBI Director James Comey was fired. | Getty Schiff demands Trump turn over Comey 'tapes'

Senior House Democrats demanded on Friday that President Donald Trump turn over to Congress any tapes he might have made of his conversations with ousted FBI Director James Comey.

Reps. John Conyers and Elijah Cummings, the top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, wrote to White House counsel Don McGahn asking whether such tapes exist and requesting copies if so. And Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement saying Trump must either provide the tapes to Congress or admit he made them up.


On Friday morning, Trump tweeted that “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” The tweet followed a New York Times story in which sources close to Comey said Trump had asked him over dinner to pledge loyalty to the president and that Comey declined.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Friday declined to answer questions about whether the tapes exist and whether there are recording devices in the White House.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

“If the President has ‘tapes’ of his conversations with Director Comey, it is because the president himself made them,” Schiff said in his statement. "For a president who baselessly accused his predecessor of illegally wiretapping him, that Mr. Trump would suggest that he, himself, may have engaged in such conduct is staggering.

“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,” Schiff added.

The California Democrat, whose committee is investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, also took aim at the contradictory statements from the White House about Trump’s motivation for Tuesday’s firing of Comey.

“With respect to the president's suggestion that as a very busy person, he doesn't have time to ensure that his spokespeople are accurately portraying his actions — it is difficult to know how to respond — except to say, being truthful with the American people is a core responsibility of the job,” Schiff said.

Conyers and Cummings said in their letter to McGahn that Trump’s tweet raises “the specter of possible intimidation and obstruction of justice.”

“Under normal circumstances, we would not consider credible any claims that the White House may have taped conversations of meetings with the President,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, because of the many false statements made by White House officials this week, we are compelled to ask whether any such recordings do in fact exist. If so, we request copies of all recordings in possession of the White House regarding this matter.”

They asked that McGahn respond by May 25.