President Trump is asked about tapes of conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey and his opinion of Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
"Mr. Comey's memoranda are relevant to the Judiciary Committee's ongoing investigative efforts".
Comey sat upright and expressionless as photographers snapped shots of his upstanding demeanor prior to his much-awaited testimony - one lawman challenging a sitting president before a Senate panel. But when senators specifically asked Comey if Trump directed him or ordered him to back off, he said "Not in his words, no".
Trump tweeted in May that Comey "better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press".
But the following morning he struck back in an early morning tweet: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication", he wrote - suggesting Mr Comey had committed perjury.
Mr Comey's testimony provided a gripping account of his interactions with President Trump and underscored the discord that had soured their relationship. And Comey testified, the president pressured him to end the probe of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
News outlets and pundits disagreed about whether Comey's testimony cleared Trump of these charges.
Still, there was no doubt the veteran lawman made for a challenging adversary. "Think of that. I hardly know the man".
The House investigation is facing the same "deconfliction" challenges its Senate counterpart is, when it comes to making sure to stay out of Mueller's way.
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Trump agreed Wednesday not to directly engage on Comey, and by the time the ousted Federal Bureau of Investigation director took the witness stand, tweeting "was not something he was considering", one senior White House official said.
The Journal rightly called Trump "his own worst political enemy" who was damaging his presidency "with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials, and other falsehoods". "I mean, I will tell you, I didn't say that", Trump replied.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: One hundred percent.
And the president said he would be happy to talk to special counsel Robert Mueller about those allegations, telling reporters, "I'd be glad to tell him exactly what I just told you". "I took it as a direction". "If I didn't, I did it for almost all of them, especially the ones that were substantive", he said. Comey suggested that matter would be considered by the special prosecutor recently appointed to investigate links between Trump associates and Russians.
Trump's promise that "the good and decent people of this country will get the change they voted for" was a clear declaration that he will remain in office to implement his agenda.
"I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, so I thought it really important to document", he said. I hardly know that man.
The president also said he would not rule out his previous claims that there may be tapes of the conversation with Comey and told reporters, "Well, I'll tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future".
The House intelligence committee sent a letter Friday asking White House counsel Don McGahn whether any tape recordings or memos of Comey's conversations with the president exist now or had existed in the past.
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