A presidential tweet on May 12, 2017 containing ominous words about former FBI Director James Comey and tapes set off a firestorm of speculation in Washington. President Trump found it acceptable to take 41 days after posting it to let everyone know it was false and misleading.
His new tweet on June 22 came one day before a congressional deadline for the White House to turn over information about possible recordings of conversations between Trump and former FBI Director James Comey.
The implications of such tapes, if they existed, were significant. At its core lay the potential of hearing the truth concerning whether or not Trump, during a private meeting, told his FBI Director to shut down the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election. It goes to an impeachable offense. Obstruction of justice.
Trump has been playing dangerous games with this issue as if there are no consequences. When asked by reporters on June 9, 2017 if the tapes existed, he responded by saying, "Well, I’ll tell you something about that maybe sometime in the very near future."
One can try and be as objective as possible about Trump's behavior as president, but he makes that as difficult as possible by continually showing us his true colors. The man is a game player. It was one thing to operate that way as a private citizen, but quite another to carry that modus operandi into the White House. Slippery Donald is beginning to rival "tricky Dick" Nixon with his personal manipulation of the truth.
On Wednesday, June 21, 2017 officials from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Russia hackers targeted 21 states during the 2016 election. As frightening as that information is, Trump refuses to acknowledge any Russian interference despite statements of fact. The looming large question remains, why?
Trump is choosing to lead by innuendo and lies. That fact is now directly confirmed by his latest tweets and fabrications about tape recordings that never existed between he and James Comey. If the president doesn't realize it by now, lies and malicious innuendo will come back to haunt him.