Former FBI Director James Comey's memoir, "A Higher Loyaltym" comes out next Tuesday. (Photo: Brookings Institution/Flickr/cc)
Apr 13, 2018
As details on James Comey's memoir surfaced overnight, President Donald Trump attacked Comey via his Twitter account on Friday morning--calling him a "slimeball" and declaring it was "his great honor" to fire the former FBI director.
\u201cJames Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1523620907
\u201c....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst \u201cbotch jobs\u201d of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1523621857
Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership" will be released next Tuesday, 11 months after Trump fired him while he was overseeing the FBI's investigation into alleged Russian meddling with the 2016 election, including any possible collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.
In excerpts released Thursday, Comey describes the president as "untethered to truth" and a leader who dominates his advisers in the style of a mafia boss, pulling "all those present into a silent circle of assent," and compares the Trump presidency to a "forest fire."
Comey, in an interview to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, also spoke publicly for the first time about the book and detailed some of his experiences with the president:
\u201cFirst look at my interview with Former FBI Director @Comey \u2013 what he was thinking during those meetings with President @realDonaldTrump \n\nhttps://t.co/TCPSpTzzzr\u201d— George Stephanopoulos (@George Stephanopoulos) 1523619874
He also recounts the infamous interaction he had with Trump soon after the president was sworn in, in which Trump allegedly demanded Comey's "loyalty" as his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was being investigated for his ties to Russia.
"To my mind, the demand was like Sammy the Bull's Cosa Nostra induction ceremony--with Trump in the role of the family boss, asking me if I have what it takes to be a 'made man,'" Comey writes, referring to the Gambino crime family.
Comey's refusal to characterize his role as FBI Director as one which demanded his loyalty to the president, caused tension with Trump, culminating in Comey's dismissal in May 2017. His termination led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller taking over the probe as well as examining whether the president had possibly obstructed justice by trying to thwart the investigation, including an examination of Comey's firing.
Trump's tweets came as reports surfaced about his possible plan to pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of lying under oath in 2007 regarding the leaking of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative whose husband, an ambassador, accused President George W. Bush of lying to the public about his reasons for invading Iraq.
\u201cOn his way to pardoning Scooter Libby for leaking intel, trump pauses to falsely accuse Comey of leaking and recommends prosecution.\u201d— Will Bailey (@Will Bailey) 1523623411
\u201cTrump is sending a message on multiple levels. Libby was convicted by a special counsel appointed by Comey, when he was DOJ\u2019s DAG. There is no pressing need to pardon him now for a decade-old crime that GW Bush had already commuted so he served no prison time. https://t.co/dDGwaP6Ks8\u201d— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1523620448
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As details on James Comey's memoir surfaced overnight, President Donald Trump attacked Comey via his Twitter account on Friday morning--calling him a "slimeball" and declaring it was "his great honor" to fire the former FBI director.
\u201cJames Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1523620907
\u201c....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst \u201cbotch jobs\u201d of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1523621857
Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership" will be released next Tuesday, 11 months after Trump fired him while he was overseeing the FBI's investigation into alleged Russian meddling with the 2016 election, including any possible collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.
In excerpts released Thursday, Comey describes the president as "untethered to truth" and a leader who dominates his advisers in the style of a mafia boss, pulling "all those present into a silent circle of assent," and compares the Trump presidency to a "forest fire."
Comey, in an interview to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, also spoke publicly for the first time about the book and detailed some of his experiences with the president:
\u201cFirst look at my interview with Former FBI Director @Comey \u2013 what he was thinking during those meetings with President @realDonaldTrump \n\nhttps://t.co/TCPSpTzzzr\u201d— George Stephanopoulos (@George Stephanopoulos) 1523619874
He also recounts the infamous interaction he had with Trump soon after the president was sworn in, in which Trump allegedly demanded Comey's "loyalty" as his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was being investigated for his ties to Russia.
"To my mind, the demand was like Sammy the Bull's Cosa Nostra induction ceremony--with Trump in the role of the family boss, asking me if I have what it takes to be a 'made man,'" Comey writes, referring to the Gambino crime family.
Comey's refusal to characterize his role as FBI Director as one which demanded his loyalty to the president, caused tension with Trump, culminating in Comey's dismissal in May 2017. His termination led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller taking over the probe as well as examining whether the president had possibly obstructed justice by trying to thwart the investigation, including an examination of Comey's firing.
Trump's tweets came as reports surfaced about his possible plan to pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of lying under oath in 2007 regarding the leaking of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative whose husband, an ambassador, accused President George W. Bush of lying to the public about his reasons for invading Iraq.
\u201cOn his way to pardoning Scooter Libby for leaking intel, trump pauses to falsely accuse Comey of leaking and recommends prosecution.\u201d— Will Bailey (@Will Bailey) 1523623411
\u201cTrump is sending a message on multiple levels. Libby was convicted by a special counsel appointed by Comey, when he was DOJ\u2019s DAG. There is no pressing need to pardon him now for a decade-old crime that GW Bush had already commuted so he served no prison time. https://t.co/dDGwaP6Ks8\u201d— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1523620448
As details on James Comey's memoir surfaced overnight, President Donald Trump attacked Comey via his Twitter account on Friday morning--calling him a "slimeball" and declaring it was "his great honor" to fire the former FBI director.
\u201cJames Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1523620907
\u201c....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst \u201cbotch jobs\u201d of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!\u201d— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1523621857
Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership" will be released next Tuesday, 11 months after Trump fired him while he was overseeing the FBI's investigation into alleged Russian meddling with the 2016 election, including any possible collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.
In excerpts released Thursday, Comey describes the president as "untethered to truth" and a leader who dominates his advisers in the style of a mafia boss, pulling "all those present into a silent circle of assent," and compares the Trump presidency to a "forest fire."
Comey, in an interview to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, also spoke publicly for the first time about the book and detailed some of his experiences with the president:
\u201cFirst look at my interview with Former FBI Director @Comey \u2013 what he was thinking during those meetings with President @realDonaldTrump \n\nhttps://t.co/TCPSpTzzzr\u201d— George Stephanopoulos (@George Stephanopoulos) 1523619874
He also recounts the infamous interaction he had with Trump soon after the president was sworn in, in which Trump allegedly demanded Comey's "loyalty" as his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was being investigated for his ties to Russia.
"To my mind, the demand was like Sammy the Bull's Cosa Nostra induction ceremony--with Trump in the role of the family boss, asking me if I have what it takes to be a 'made man,'" Comey writes, referring to the Gambino crime family.
Comey's refusal to characterize his role as FBI Director as one which demanded his loyalty to the president, caused tension with Trump, culminating in Comey's dismissal in May 2017. His termination led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller taking over the probe as well as examining whether the president had possibly obstructed justice by trying to thwart the investigation, including an examination of Comey's firing.
Trump's tweets came as reports surfaced about his possible plan to pardon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of lying under oath in 2007 regarding the leaking of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative whose husband, an ambassador, accused President George W. Bush of lying to the public about his reasons for invading Iraq.
\u201cOn his way to pardoning Scooter Libby for leaking intel, trump pauses to falsely accuse Comey of leaking and recommends prosecution.\u201d— Will Bailey (@Will Bailey) 1523623411
\u201cTrump is sending a message on multiple levels. Libby was convicted by a special counsel appointed by Comey, when he was DOJ\u2019s DAG. There is no pressing need to pardon him now for a decade-old crime that GW Bush had already commuted so he served no prison time. https://t.co/dDGwaP6Ks8\u201d— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1523620448
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