Trump demands prosecution of former FBI chief ahead of memoir

▶ War of words as ‘alternate reality’ president tells of ‘leaker, liar’ Comey

US President Donald Trump called for the prosecution of former FBI chief James Comey on Friday, unleashing a vitriolic response to the publication of his tell-all book.

Mr Trump had called Mr Comey weak, a “leaker and liar” and a “slime ball” in a two-part Twitter tirade, as the first reports of Comey’s book emerged.

News organisations obtained copies of the manuscript, in which the former FBI chief portrays Mr Trump as “unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values”.

The book is due for release on Tuesday but Comey has already appeared on television to promote it and the White House has been planning for weeks on how to discredit him.

Mr Trump led the charge on Friday, tweeting so far unsubstantiated claims that Mr Comey “leaked classified information, for which he should be prosecuted”, and that he “lied to Congress under oath”.

It is rare for a sitting US president to comment on continuing litigation, much less ask for critics to be prosecuted.

Mr Trump sacked Comey in May last year over what he said was the FBI’s behaviour in investigating Democrat Hillary Clinton and the presidential campaign’s possible collusion with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.

“I said to myself, this Russia thing is a made-up story,” Mr Trump said. “It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.”

Comey’s account of his meetings with Mr Trump before he was forced out conveys a sense of disbelief about the president.

“His leadership is transactional, ego-driven and about personal loyalty,” Comey writes. He lives in “a cocoon of alternative reality into which he tried to pull others around him”.

He says the US president is obsessed with claims of a video showing Russian prostitutes said to be hired by Mr Trump, and he mocks the “bright white half-moons” under the preident’s eyes, which he speculates may come from tanning goggles.

“His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case will go down as one of the worst ‘botch jobs’ of history,” Mr Trump responded.

“It was my great honour to fire James Comey.”

But Democrats defended him against Mr Trump’s attacks.

The president’s stance “is a failure to uphold the prestige of the presidency and show restraint in the face of criticism”, said Congressman Ted Deutch. “Reality TV stars thrive on one-liners, presidents don’t.”

Former CIA director John Brennan said: “Your kakistocracy is collapsing after its lamentable journey.”

Kakistocracy is government by the least qualified, or most unscrupulous, people.