Trump urged to hand over any Comey tapes

Washington May 15 (IANS) Senior US lawmakers have called on President Donald Trump to turn over any recordings of conversations with fired FBI Director James Comey a media report said on Monday.

Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer warned that destroying any tapes would break the law the BBC reported.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the White House needed to clear the air about whether tapes existed.

The comments come after Trump tweeted what appeared to be a thinly veiled threat to the former FBI chief.

He warned Comey last week against talking to the media saying he had better hope there are no tapes of their conversations.

The White House has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of any tapes the BBC report said.

Schumer also warned that Senate Democrats might refuse to vote on a new Federal Bureau of Investigation director until a special prosecutor is named to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the November 8 2016 US election.

The FBI is investigating the allegations and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Trump denies any such links and says Comey had assured him he was not being investigated. He says he fired Comey because he was not doing a good job.

Democrats however have accused President Trump of firing Comey to try to thwart the FBI inquiry the BBC report added.

--IANS
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