so did he lie before, now ,or is there never any truth?

[NastyWoman]

"With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea whether there are 'tapes' or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings," Trump tweeted.

What do you denizens of current events think? Is this man even capable of the truth? Discuss...

www.cnn.com/2017/06/22/politics/trump-comey-tapes-no-recordings/index.html

[busymom]

He makes the perfect politician.  If his lips are moving, it's probably a lie.  

[Deleted]

Never any truth. 

[Green Eyed Lady]

I remember - I was about 10 or so - my sister and I were playing with Dad's coffee can full of BBs. We weren't supposed to be playing with them but he kept them on a shelf in the garage and they were so easy to get to. Of course, we ended up spilling about half of them all over the garage floor.  Mom was pretty mad and told us to get them all picked up.  It took us forever.  When we were done, I went in the kitchen and told her we had picked them up.  Her response was, "You better hope you got them all."

Now that didn't mean she knew there were BBs we had missed. It didn't mean anything other than if she found more BBs on the floor, we were in even more trouble.  She wasn't lying to us about anything.  I was an expression - one that she used quite often. 

So no.  Him saying that Comey better hope there are no tapes of their conversations doesn't seem like a lie to me.  I don't know if he meant to imply there were tapes or if he was like my mother and it was basically a figure of speech.  But lie?  It would be quite a stretch to believe it was a lie because he didn't say anything one way or the other.  Not that I'd put it past him - just that it would be dumb to lie about something like this.

I did get a kick out of the part of that article that says basically that Comey had no self-control over leaking the document.  Trump made him do it by what he said.  What a phenomenal weakling with no conception of personal responsibility. 

[ken a.k.a OMK]

He has always lied.  We should know by now that Trump is a TV/business con artist who has no respect for anyone. It's all about him. He displayed it during his campaign but enough Hillary haters bought into him. Paul constantly rants about the Dem party being dead. Well the GOP couldn't get a real candidate. I bet they regret not taking Trump up on his threat to run as an independent. 

[Deleted]

This expression GEL... was it the kind of expression you might classify as an, oh, i don't know... threat? 

[Deleted]

Also... why for fruck's sake could he not say that WEEKS ago if it was 'just an expression'?

[Opti]

I figured it was a threat from the beginning. Technically it isn't a lie.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

That's how Trump operates. Create false evidence by lying and keep it up as long as he could to get support. Tried to intimidate Comey who was cool knowing tapes would support him not Trump.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Because he likes the attention.

There's an article on politico.Com about him not wanting to be President but wanting to be Communication Director.

As to the expression, yeah, my mom used it and I've used it with my kids. It's part threat, part reminder, part promise and part expectations.

I can also see him assuming that "of course the Oval Office records everything"

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I am leaning towards he was bluffing.   Then started praying that someone, anyone had tapes once it became apparent nobody was going to back down.   His bluff backfired and now he's trying to save face.

This has probably worked for him in his private board room.   It's not working so well in the governmental arena.

There was no need for him to say anything.  This would have all been over a lot faster if he had sat on his hands and duct taped his mouth shut.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Jun 22, 2017 14:19:46 GMT -5 Opti said:

I figured it was a threat from the beginning. Technically it isn't a lie.

I also figured out from the beginning it was a threat. Not technically a lie but is it a game we want our president to play? 

[Deleted]

And I'm going with my original thought that he was threatening Comey regarding any tapes Comey might have made... as in you better not distribute voice of me obstructing justice you walking target...

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Let's not down play Trump not saying from the beginning he had no tapes. It caused unneeded actions from government investigations. Here's why he finally fessed up:

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday that subpoenas could be the next step if the White House doesn’t comply with a Friday deadline to hand over information on any tapes of President Donald Trump's meetings with former FBI Director James Comey.

[Green Eyed Lady]

Jun 22, 2017 14:14:58 GMT -5 oped said:

Also... why for fruck's sake could he not say that WEEKS ago if it was 'just an expression'?

Just based on how he has acted in the past, I guess it's because he was having a blast watching people lose their minds over it. Not very grown up - that's for sure.  He likes keeping people in suspense.  I don't think that's a huge secret. 

[Green Eyed Lady]

Jun 22, 2017 14:11:20 GMT -5 oped said:

This expression GEL... was it the kind of expression you might classify as an, oh, i don't know... threat? 

It was from her - that's for sure. I have no idea if that's how he meant it.  I don't think it was a much a threat as some sort of juvenile scare tactic. But we weren't discussing threats - we were discussing lies.  People have overused "lie" so much, it appears we've forgotten what it actually means.

[Green Eyed Lady]

Jun 22, 2017 14:20:16 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

That's how Trump operates. Create false evidence by lying and keep it up as long as he could to get support. Tried to intimidate Comey who was cool knowing tapes would support him not Trump.

If you are on the outside looking in and don't really NEED one to be lying, you could say the same thing in reverse.  Maybe Trump said it to make Comey tell the truth - implying that if Comey does lie, he'll be easily caught out with proof.   Maybe his statement did cause Comey's testimony to change.  Nobody knows for sure.  Apparently, it certainly caused him to be a weak leaker.  What else did it cause him to do?

[Green Eyed Lady]

I honestly think the guy does it on purpose. I really do. I think he plans out the next thing he is going to say or tweet about and does it intentionally, knowing blown minds will follow immediately. What does that accomplish? It keeps the Democrats from organizing anything or anybody that has a chance in hell of beating him in 2018. They are too busy throwing hissy fits over basically nothing to do anything productive. All it would take is one decent candidate to beat him, but nobody is concentrating on finding someone to put forth.  Now it's all HE LIIIIIIIIIIED when it's clear he didn't commit to anything one way or the other. 

A little focus may be in order.

[billisonboard]

Jun 22, 2017 14:56:35 GMT -5 Green Eyed Lady said:

... beating him in 2018. ... All it would take is one decent candidate to beat him, but nobody is concentrating on finding someone to put forth. ...

The next presidential election is in 2020. It is way too early to be putting forth a candidate to run in that election. There are any number of people who are staying out of the main spotlight at this point so that they don't set themselves up with material that can be used against them if they do run.

[chiver78]

Jun 22, 2017 14:21:19 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I am leaning towards he was bluffing.   Then started praying that someone, anyone had tapes once it became apparent nobody was going to back down.   His bluff backfired and now he's trying to save face.

This has probably worked for him in his private board room.   It's not working so well in the governmental arena.

There was no need for him to say anything.  This would have all been over a lot faster if he had sat on his hands and duct taped his mouth shut.

I think that's the only way he will ever keep his mouth shut, about anything.

[Green Eyed Lady]

Jun 22, 2017 15:04:03 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jun 22, 2017 14:56:35 GMT -5 Green Eyed Lady said:

... beating him in 2018. ... All it would take is one decent candidate to beat him, but nobody is concentrating on finding someone to put forth. ...

The next presidential election is in 2020. It is way too early to be putting forth a candidate to run in that election. There are any number of people who are staying out of the main spotlight at this point so that they don't set themselves up with material that can be used against them if they do run.

lol....yes. No idea why I typed that. 

[gacpa]

Good reading on this thread...

[billisonboard]

I must admit that the man does drive me crazy.  The President of the United States received a request from the United States Congress and he responds in a God Damn public tweet. 

[Tennesseer]

Jun 22, 2017 15:54:40 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I must admit that the man does drive me crazy.  The President of the United States received a request from the United States Congress and he responds in a God Damn public tweet. 

Public record!

[billisonboard]

Jun 22, 2017 16:35:14 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Jun 22, 2017 15:54:40 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I must admit that the man does drive me crazy.  The President of the United States received a request from the United States Congress and he responds in a God Damn public tweet. 

Public record!

A formal letter on White House stationary, signed and released to the public, would also be a public record.

[NastyWoman]

Jun 22, 2017 16:35:14 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Jun 22, 2017 15:54:40 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I must admit that the man does drive me crazy.  The President of the United States received a request from the United States Congress and he responds in a God Damn public tweet. 

Public record!

and the official position of the WH we have been told. 

Now since there never was any mention of tapes before dt put that out there, who is to say there weren't any and now that there was a chance the tapes could be asked for by Congress as proof, he didn't just destroy them?

[Virgil Showlion]

It's not technically lying, but it makes him look like a sleazeball.

'nuff said.

[NastyWoman]

looks are not always deceiving

[Peace Of Mind]

Jun 22, 2017 17:24:42 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Jun 22, 2017 16:35:14 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Public record!

and the official position of the WH we have been told. 

Now since there never was any mention of tapes before dt put that out there, who is to say there weren't any and now that there was a chance the tapes could be asked for by Congress as proof, he didn't just destroy them?

He learned from Nixon that it's best to not have any evidence that could get you impeached.   

[justme]

There's a part of me that thinks he doesn't get twitter and can go back and delete shit and be like I never saw it.

It fits cuz he posts so much on his personal one. But then again that would require more willful ignorance than a dog has.