Schiff Urges Trump To Release Any Secretly Recorded Conversations After 'Tapes' Tweet
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Southland congressman Friday called on President Donald Trump to release any secretly recorded conversations with the recently fired FBI director after a barrage of tweets from the President.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, criticized Trump, who earlier this week fired James Comey amid the FBI's investigation into alleged ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, for his post on Twitter which read: "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
"For someone who accuses the former president of illegally wiretapping him, it is mind boggling," Schiff said, referring to Trump's previous accusation that former President Barack Obama wiretapped
Trump's office. "If there are tapes it is because President Trump made them, and they should be turned over to Congress."
Comey "was not only fired in the middle of the Russia investigation, but he may be also now be a witness", according to Schiff.
While critics have suggested Trump's tweet amounted to a threat, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied such allegations during a briefing Friday, but declined to further address the possibility of recorded conversations between Trump and Comey.
"The president has nothing further to add on that," Spicer said. "The tweet speaks for itself."
Schiff, who represents the 29th District, which includes Van Nuys, Pacoima, North Hollywood and other parts of the San Fernando Valley, is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia.
Whiel he has been an outspoken critic of Trump, he has also stated as recently as April that lawmakers have found no definitive proof of any collusion between the president and Russian officials.
"I don't think we can say anything definitively at this point," Schiff said. "We are still at the very early stages of the investigation. The only thing I can say is that it would be irresponsible for us not to get to the bottom of this. We really need to find out exactly what the Russians did."
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
