Trump administration to interview candidates to replace fired FBI chief James Comey

The Trump administration is considering nearly a dozen candidates, including Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, to replace fired FBI Director James Comey, a media report said on Saturday.

Four of the candidates -- Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher, the acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Republican Senator Cornyn and Judge Michael J Garcia of the New York Court of Appeals -- will be interviewed on Saturday, Fox News reported.

The administration is examining a list that includes top current and former lawmakers as well as law enforcement figures, the channel quoted a source as saying. "We are moving quickly and expeditiously to pick an interim and a permanent replacement, and we re doing our due diligence we re not going to cut any corners," the source told Fox News.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is facing growing questions about whether he secretly recorded his conversations with Comey.

In a tweet, Trump appeared to issue a thinly-veiled threat to Comey, saying he had "better hope there are no tapes" of their conversations.

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

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

The White House denied that Trump threatened Comey, who was fired by him early this week.