Donald trump threatens ex-fbi director james comey in explosive att...

A tweet from Mr Trump appeared to suggest that if Mr Comey spoke to the press, the administration might produce tapes of conversations, although it was not clear if such tapes existed. The

veiled threat added to the storm over Mr Trump's abrupt firing of Mr Comey.  The US President sacked the under-fire director earlier this week, initially saying the FBI's handling

of the Hilary Clinton email investigation last year was the reason for the dismissal. Democrats have branded the move "Nixonian" and noted the conspicuous timing of the decision,

coming as the FBI director was investigating allegations of collusion between Trump aides and Russian hackers in the run up to last year's election. Today, the President warned Mr Comey

not to speak to the media as he sent off a series of angry tweets denying the Russia allegations, once again branding them "fake".  He said the claims were being used as an excuse

by the Democrats for losing the election, before threatening to cancel future press breifings and instead handing out written statements "for the sake of accuracy".  Mr Trump then

warned Mr Comey not to discuss private coversations between the two with the media.  He tweeted: "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations

before he starts leaking to the press!" The White House said it had no comment when asked if Mr Trump record conversations with Mr Comey.  CNN said Mr Comey is "not worried about

any tapes" Mr Trump may have of their conversations, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.  Mr Trump has contradicted both himself and White House statements in the days

since Mr Comey's departure. In an interview with NBC yesterday, the US President admitted he did, in fact, have "the Russia thing" on his mind when he decided to fire the FBI

chief.  He said: "In fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the

Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won." PRESIDENT TRUMP FIRES FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY > James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our

> conversations before he starts leaking to the press! >  > Tweet from President Donald Trump Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe has also contradicted White House claims that Mr

Comey had lost the support of staff, saying he continues to enjoy “broad support” among the rank-and-file. It has been reported that Mr Comey was summoned to a one-to-one dinner with the

president two weeks after his inauguration in January, during which Mr Trump allegedly asked the head of the FBI to pledge his "loyalty" to him.  The New York Times said Mr Comey

declined to do so, and privately believes that is the real reason behind his sacking. White House spokesman Sean Spicer disputed the claims.  He said Mr Trump did not ask the former FBI

director to pledge loyalty to him when the two had dinner in January. Asked whether anyone in the White House had an audio recording of the dinner, Mr Spicer said: "I'm not aware

of that." There had been calls for Mr Comey to step down in the wake of the last year's embarassing saga over the Clinton emails.  Initially Mr Comey said he would not be

investigating Mrs Clinton's use of a private server while Secretary of State, only to announce weeks before the election the FBI was re-opening the investigation.  Many Clinton

supporters believe the FBI's handling of the case cost them countless votes and possibly the election.