President Donald Trump warned ousted FBI Director James Comey on Friday against talking to the media, suggesting there might be tapes of conversations between the two men that could contradict his account.
Frum takes a similar stance on the events of the last week, writing in The Atlantic that Comey's firing represents a test for US democracy.
He told reporters three times that "The president has nothing further to add on that" when asked if the president was recording conversations in the White House.
Sen. Dick Durbin D-Ill., called Trump "dangerous" on Friday in the wake of Trump's post on Twitter that suggested he taped a conversation with Comey.
"President Trump doesn't understand Watergate, he hasn't learned anything from it", he said.
Trump had tweeted, "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
Just days before the presidential election, Comey announces the FBI is reopening its investigation into Clinton's email on the back of evidence found on Weiner's laptop.
Comey's departure took place just as the FBI investigation into Russian Federation was gaining steam, said Kupchan. He said that while he received a scathing assessment of Comey's performance from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Monday, that memo was not a catalyst for his dramatic decision as the White House had said earlier.
In a statement, Durbin said that what he characterized as Trump's admission that he fired Comey because of the Russian Federation probe was "dangerously close to obstruction of justice". "When I chose to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russian Federation thing with Trump and Russian Federation is a made-up story". During the dinner, Comey refused to pledge his loyalty and instead offered the president his honesty.
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In an interview with Fox News Friday, Trump declined to comment on whether he has listening devices in the White House. "He keeps a very robust schedule, as many of you are very well aware, as you can tell by the activities of next week alone", Spicer said, referring to the president's upcoming trip to the Middle East. Trump said Comey wanted to have the dinner because he wanted to stay on in the job.
"I don't know if there was collusion or not", Clapper said during an interview Friday with MSNBC.
"If there are tapes, I believe maybe it is not our committee's jurisdiction", Warner said.
McCabe also pointed out the remarkable nature of Trump's version of his conversations with Comey.
A source close to the former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief told CNN on Friday that Comey is "not anxious about any tapes" as he enjoys his sudden vacation at home in northern Virginia.
U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Comey on May 9th for his handling of the investigation into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's emails. He had argued that his surrogates can not be expected to "stand at podium with ideal accuracy".
The White House initially said Trump fired Comey on the recommendation of the top Justice Department officials: Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein.
Mr Trump also said this week that he alone was responsible for the decision to sack Mr Comey, calling him a "showboat" and "grandstander".
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