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| President Trump abruptly fired James Comey as FBI director last week |
Senior US lawmakers have called on
President Donald Trump to turn over any recordings of conversations with
fired FBI director James Comey.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the White House needed to "clear the air" about whether tapes existed.
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| Senators Charles Schumer, left, and Lindsey Graham want any recordings handed over |
He warned Mr 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 existence of any tapes. Mr Schumer also warned that Senate Democrats might refuse to vote on a new FBI director until a special prosecutor is named to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
The FBI is investigating the allegations and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign.
Mr Trump denies any such links and says Mr Comey had assured him he was not being investigated. He says he fired Mr Comey because he was not doing a good job.
Democrats, however, have accused President Trump of firing Mr Comey to try to thwart the FBI inquiry.
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"If there are no tapes, he should apologise to both Jim Comey and the American people for misleading them," he added.
Senator Graham told NBC that Mr Trump's tweet was "inappropriate" and called on the president to "back off and let the investigation go forward". "You can't be cute about tapes," he said. "If there are any tapes of this conversation, they need to be turned over."