Washington (CNN) This is a master of innuendo at work -- President Donald Trump never actually CLAIMED there were tapes of his conversations with fired FBI Director James Comey.

What he did say, in a tweet, is that Comey had better hope there weren't any RECORDINGS.

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!

"James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"

It was a bluff. And Comey called it during HIS Senate testimony when he said, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes."

Now we know that Comey's prayers are likely to go unanswered, after Trump said he didn't make any. Trump was the first to suggest they existed, so that means the tapes don't exist, right?

But just like he never actually, clearly said there were tapes, Trump -- in attempting to put the issue to rest -- doesn't actually say there are not tapes, either. It's also that kind of chatter, tactical but also reckless, that could land Trump in boiling hot water as a special counsel and congressional committees turn their attention to whether his words somehow obstructed Comey's work.

What's undeniable is that the President of the United States misled the American people and allowed them to go on a quixotic scavenger hunt from May 12 until June 22. And to some extent, it continues today.

Pay attention to his words in these two tweets Thursday:

"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."

So there you have it. Trump still allows for the possibility there are tapes. But if there are, well, he didn't make them and he doesn't have them. By bringing up reports of electronic surveillance and intercepts and all that, he further muddies the water. So, who knows what Trump is saying?

And that's the point.

That little smidge of doubt means that, even as your heart and your mind are both telling you there are no tapes, and though you can know to an incredible degree of certainty there are no tapes ... well, there are those reports of surveillance and intercepts, unmasking and leaking. Who can ever be sure of anything? (Again: That's the point.)

It also feeds into Trump's apparent incapacity to admit he was wrong. He's not going to come out and say he messed up -- that his tapes gambit failed and maybe even backfired, with Comey taking the tweet as a challenge, and subsequently burning the President through leaked memos and public testimony. That? That's not a reality you're likely to find reflected in a Trump tweetstorm.

Innuendo is how Trump commanded media attention to the idea of tapes for months, right up to Thursday. It's also why he suggested over and over again that millions of illegal voters had robbed him of the popular vote. It's how he fanned the birther conspiracy for years.

Trump might have been a great defense attorney; he's not proving things beyond a reasonable doubt, he's casting shadows on it.</s>This is bound to be controversial. Donald Trump, president of the United States, has certain freedoms and liberties that come with the job. This act, though, will make a golf-course superintendent -- and really, anyone who cares about golf-course maintenance -- raise an eyebrow or two.

Trump owns more than 19 golf properties around the world, and this video, shared by Barstool Sports and originally by Mike Frank on Twitter, appears to have come from Trump Bedminster, where this year's U.S. Women's Open will be held in a couple of weeks. We hope this green is not one being used in the tournament (Bedminster has 36 holes).

At the end of the day, when you own a course, we suppose you can do whatever you want. And if you're Trump, on that list is driving your golf cart on the greens.

Avert the eyes, supers around the world:

We can't come up with a good reason for driving on the green (actually, we can think of a lot of bad reasons for doing so), other than the fact that when you're president and own the golf course you're playing, you have free rein. Yeah, we'll leave it at that.

RELATED: How good is Donald Trump as a Golfer?

WATCH MORE VIDEOS FROM THE LOOP</s>That left open the possibility that recordings were made without his knowledge or by someone else. But he largely appeared to close the saga that began in May, just days after he fired Comey, then the head of an investigation into Trump associates' ties to Russian officials. Trump has disputed Comey's version of a January dinner during which the director said the president had asked for a pledge of loyalty.</s>Donald Trump’s Russia investigation may have taken a new turn with a report highlighting the president’s financial connections to Russia through a reported Russian mob-linked criminal and a real-estate firm accused of money laundering.

Most of the media attention, as well as the Senate Intelligence Committee’s questioning regarding the Russia investigation, has centered on alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia, as well as the subsequent firing of FBI Director James Comey. But a new report from Bloomberg highlights a potential financial connection between Donald Trump and a now-defunct real estate development group called Bayrock Group that may have allowed shadowy money to flow from Vladimir Putin’s inner circle into Trump’s companies.

Bayrock worked with Donald Trump as two of his children — Donald Jr. and Ivanka — on a number of real estate deals between 2002 and 2011, the report noted. During that time, Bayrock was connected with banks in trouble for money laundering and had an office just two floors below Donald Trump’s own office in Trump Tower.

“Icelandic banks that dealt with Bayrock, for example, were easy marks for money launderers and foreign influence, according to interviews with government investigators, legislators, and others in Reykjavik, Brussels, Paris and London,” the report noted. “Trump testified under oath in a 2007 deposition that Bayrock brought Russian investors to his Trump Tower office to discuss deals in Moscow, and said he was pondering investing there.”

There were also allegations from a former Bayrock principal named Jody Kriss that the company was actually a front for money laundering, a charge that the company contested in court while describing Kriss as a disgruntled employee. But the case Kriss brought forward close to a decade ago is still moving forward, with a federal judge in New York allowing it to proceed as a racketeering case, Bloomberg reported.

The report also connects Donald Trump to a “career criminal” named Felix Sater, another principal at Bayrock who former Bayrock employees said had frequent meetings with Trump in Trump’s office. Sater, who has ties to organized crime in the United States and Russia, spent time in prison for assaulting a man with a broken cocktail glass.

The alleged connections between Donald Trump and Felix Sater got an even wider audience when Rachel Maddow highlighted the report on her MSNBC show. Others have picked up the story, including Raw Story, which noted that Sater worked with Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on an attempted Ukrainian peach proposal.

Sater is also alleged to have advised Trump’s campaign.

While the report noted that it is unclear if the connections to Felix Sater or Bayrock are part of Robert Mueller’s investigation, there is evidence that the independent counsel is focusing on money laundering and Russian organized crime. Mueller’s team has grown to include prosecutors with expertise in white-collar fraud and Russian organized crime, Bloomberg noted.

For his part, Donald Trump has denied any close connection to Felix Sater.</s>President Donald Trump said he did not record, and does not possess, any tapes of his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.

It ended speculation that arose last month after Mr Trump issued a tweet saying Mr Comey better "hope there were no tapes" of their exchanges.

Mr Trump said: "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."</s>U.S. President Donald Trump admitted Thursday he did not record conversations he had with then-FBI director James Comey.

Trump took to social media Thursday afternoon and confirmed he did not make “any such recordings.”

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

On May 12, Trump suggested he may have recorded conversations between himself and Comey.

“James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” the president tweeted.

Comey testified earlier this month at the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing investigating possible connections between the Trump administration and Russia.

Comey said Trump had asked him to pledge his loyalty to the president and to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey said he believes he was fired as a result of the FBI investigation.

READ MORE: Donald Trump appears to confirm he’s being investigated for obstruction of justice

“Guess I don’t know for sure. I believe the — I take the president at his word, that I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” Comey testified while under oath.

Trump had said Comey’s firing was the result of the FBI being in “turmoil.”

“The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that, everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil — less than a year ago. It hasn’t recovered from that,” Trump said in an interview with NBC.

Trump had previously said he terminated Comey based on a recommendation from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Comey said during his testimony he “was fired in some way to change, or the endeavour was to change, the way the Russia investigation was being conducted. That is a very big deal, and not just because it involves me.”

Trump lashed out at Comey following the hearing, labelling the ex-FBI boss as a “leaker” after Comey admitted he gave a friend a written memo detailing a meeting he had with the president and asked the friend to give it to a reporter.

READ MORE: Watergate vs. Trump’s Russia scandal: How they stack up

“Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication…and WOW, Comey is a leaker!” Trump tweeted.

“I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter,” Comey said. “Didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel, so I asked a close friend of mine to do it.”</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday tweeted that he did not record his conversations with then-FBI Director James Comey, putting to rest one of the biggest lingering mysteries surrounding the drama between the president and the FBI head he later dismissed.

Trump tweeted in May, shortly after he fired the FBI boss, that Comey “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’” of their conversations.

Media reports surfaced soon after Comey’s firing that revealed the existence of memos detailing conversations between the president and Comey. Trump and Comey spoke several times, both in person and on the phone.

The White House dodged questions about the tapes until after Trump’s tweet Thursday. At a White House briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders did not offer an explanation as to why the president floated the existence of tapes or why he failed to address the allegations for more than a month.

“I think the president's statement via Twitter is extremely clear. I don't have anything to add,” Sanders said.

She said the president did not regret the tweet that helped spark the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.

Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this month that the prospects of taped conversations between him and Trump spurred him to ask a confidant to alert the New York Times about the existence of the memos. The revelation provided more pressure on the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to oversee the probe.

The former FBI head said Trump asked for his “loyalty” during a January dinner, and suggested he let the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “go.”

“Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” Comey told Congress during his testimony.

In a press conference earlier this month, Trump denied both asking Comey for his loyalty and pushing for him to drop the Flynn investigation.

"I hardly know the man, I'm not going to say I want you to pledge allegiance. Who would do that? Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance, under oath?" Trump said.

Trump's announcement comes just one day ahead of a House Intelligence Committee deadline for the White House to provide the panel with any recordings between Trump and Comey.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking member of the committee, said Thursday that the tweets were insufficient.

"If the president didn’t make tapes or isn’t aware of tapes, then why did he hang the idea of tapes over James Comey’s head? Did he try to intimidate him, was he trying to discourage others from coming forward? There’s a lot that still remains to be answered here," Schiff said.

Schiff said the White House must officially respond to the committee by tomorrow’s deadline regarding whether they know of any recordings.

If they do not respond, Schiff says the next stop is to subpoena the White House, though he doesn’t expect that to happen. If the White House does respond and claims that they do not know about the existence of tapes, the committee will continue to ask all those they interview whether they know anything about the president’s recording habits.

"The president’s now denial is not a complete denial. He’s only saying he didn’t record the conversations and he doesn’t know whether there are recordings out there, so we’ll continue to explore this," Schiff said.</s>President Donald Trump said on Twitter Wednesday he "did not make" and does "not have" recordings of conversations with ex-FBI Director James Comey.DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said on Twitter he ‘did not make’ and does ‘not have’ recordings of conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.

The president fired Comey in May and then tweeted that the lawman, who was overseeing the investigation into possible contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.”

Trump and his aides have since then steadfastly refused to clarify that extraordinary if ambiguous warning. The president last month told reporters that “I’ll tell you about that maybe sometime in the near future” but offered no hints as to whether the tapes exists, except saying that some journalists would “be very disappointed” to find out the answer.</s>U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not make and does not possess any tapes of his conversations with James Comey, after suggesting last month that he might have recordings that could damage the former FBI director.

"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 wrote on Twitter.

Lawmakers investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. 2016 election had asked the White House for any such recordings of Comey, who Trump fired in May.

Shortly after dismissing Comey, Trump mentioned the possibility of tapes in a Twitter post.

"James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Trump wrote on Twitter on May 12.

The Russia issue has cast a shadow over Trump's first five months in office, distracting from attempts by his fellow Republicans in Congress to reform the U.S. healthcare and tax systems.

Comey's firing and its aftermath caused a political firestorm. He testified before a Senate committee that Trump had asked him to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his alleged ties to Russia.

Trump has privately told aides that the threat of the existence of tapes forced Comey to tell the truth in his recent testimony, a source familiar with the situation said.

Earlier on Thursday, CNN reported that two top U.S. intelligence officials have told investigators Trump suggested they publicly deny any collusion between his campaign and Russia, but they did not feel he had ordered them to do so.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers met separately last week with investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate intelligence committee, according to CNN.

The two senior officials said they were surprised at Trump's suggestion and found their interactions with him odd and uncomfortable, but they did not act on the presidents' requests, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with their accounts.

The Kremlin has denied U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that Moscow tried to tilt the election campaign in Trump's favor, using such means as hacking into the emails of senior Democrats.

Trump has denied any collusion, and he continued to cast doubt on the investigations in a series of tweets on Thursday morning.
U.S. President Donald Trump clarifies that he did not record any private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.