White House says Trump tweet meets Comey tapes records request

[June 24, 2017]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said in a letter on Friday that a tweet by President Donald Trump on Thursday was the formal answer to a request by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee for information about records of conversations with fired FBI Director James Comey.

The letter to Republican Representative Mike Conaway, who is leading the panel's investigation into Russian interference to the 2016 election, and Representative Adam Schiff, the committee's top Democrat, said: "In response to the committee's inquiry, we refer you to President Trump's June 22, 2017, statement regarding this matter."

The House panel said on June 9 it had written to Don McGahn, the White House counsel, asking about the existence of any recordings or memos covering Comey's conversations with Trump and asked that copies of the materials be provided to the panel by June 23.

Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday, a day before the deadline, that he did not know if there were recordings of his conversations with Comey, but he did not make or have any such recordings.

Conaway told reporters Friday morning that Trump's tweet was not a sufficient response.

 President Donald Trump (L) speaks in Ypilanti Township, Michigan March 15, 2017 and FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., May 3, 2017 in a combination of file photos. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Kevin Lamarque/File Photos

Schiff said in a statement on Thursday that Trump's Twitter comment stopped short of denying the White House had tapes or recordings and said the White House must respond in writing.

(This version of the story corrects Conaway's role to leader of investigation from chairman in second paragraph)

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Bill Trott)

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