Trump ‘morally unfit’ for office, fired FBI chief Comey says
Fired former FBI chief James Comey lashed out at US President Donald Trump in an interview with ABC, calling him “morally unfit” to be president and describing him as a serial liar who will “stain everyone around him.”
Comey’s remarks are the latest salvo in a war of words with Trump, who excoriated the former FBI director on Twitter on Sunday, again calling him a “slimeball” and suggesting he should be jailed, AFP reported on Monday.
The wide-ranging interview with ABC News also came ahead of Tuesday’s release of Comey’s memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership,” in which he details his interactions with the Republican president.
“I think he’s morally unfit to be president,” Comey said, in his first televised interview since being fired in May last year.
The former federal prosecutor pointed to how Trump “talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat” and “lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it.”
“Values matter,” Comey said. “This president does not reflect the values of this country.”
Comey also said that serving in Trump’s administration poses a serious ethical dilemma.
“The challenge of this president is that he will stain everyone around him,” he told ABC.
“And the question is, how much stain is too much stain and how much stain eventually makes you unable to accomplish your goal of protecting the country and serving the country?”
In his book, Comey likens Trump to a dishonest, ego-driven mob boss and says he demanded the then FBI chief’s personal pledge of loyalty – a damning account that has infuriated the president at a moment of intensifying legal pressure on other fronts.
“I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His ‘memos’ are self-serving and FAKE!” Trump said in one of a series of tweets fired off Sunday before the interview.
The president said Comey “stupidly” handled a probe into Trump’s 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton and how she used a private email server during her time as secretary of state.
Possible obstruction of justice
Comey said the president may have obstructed justice when he asked him to drop an investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. “Possibly. I mean, it’s certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice,” he said. “It would depend upon other things that reflected on his intent.”
Trump and his aides have countered Comey’s media blitz by attacking his handling of the probe into Clinton’s emails.
Comey acknowledged in the ABC interview that his belief that Clinton would be elected president “was a factor” in his decision to reopen the email probe 11 days before the US election, a development that Clinton blames for her surprise defeat.