The lying, the loyalty oaths ..Trump is like a Mafia boss

together by ex-british spy Christopher Steele, the US leader had his team and leaders of the intelligence community around the table. Comey writes: “Holy c**p, they are trying to make each of us an ‘amica nostra’ – a friend of ours. To draw us in. As crazy as it sounds, I suddenly had the feeling that, in the blink of an eye, the president-elect was trying to make us all part of the same family.

“I had never seen anything like it in the Oval Office.

“As I found myself thrust into the Trump orbit, I once again was having flashbacks to my earlier career as a prosecutor against the Mob.

“The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them world view.

“The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organisation above morality and the truth.”

Of Trump’s now famous demand over dinner at the White House in January 2017, “I need loyalty”, Comey writes: “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’.”

He also says America “is paying a high price” for the 2016 election, adding: “This president is unethical and untethered to the truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego-driven and about

The outburst came as Trump’s allies mounted an online campaign to discredit the former FBI boss with a website branding him, “Lyin’ Comey”.

In the book, Comey talks about accusations Trump had Russian prostitutes in his Moscow hotel room, who allegedly urinated on each other.

He claims Trump was “fixated”, adding: “[He called me and said] ‘I’m a germaphobe. There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me’.

“I actually let out an audible laugh. I imagined the presidential suite of the Ritz-carlton in Moscow was large enough for a germaphobe to be at a safe distance from the activity.”