President calls Comey an ‘untruthful slime ball’
Ex-FBI director’s book compares Trump to a dishonest mob boss
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump went to rhetorical war with James Comey on Twitter on Friday, calling him “a proven LEAKER & LIAR” and an “untruthful slime ball” in the wake of the former FBI director’s book that likens the president to a dishonest mob boss.
“Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired,” Trump said of Comey in a pair of remarkably critical and personal tweets. “He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI.”
In fact, lawmakers from both parties criticized Trump for his dismissal of Comey.
The firing is part of an investigation into whether the president sought to obstruct justice in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Details of Comey’s book — “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” — are leaking out as he prepares for a fullscale media tour next week.
Comey said Trump appeared to lean on him to go easy on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was indicted on charges of lying to the FBI about his postelection contact with a Russian ambassador.
Offering an overall assessment of Trump, Comey wrote that “this president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values,” according to news reports about the book. “His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty.”
The Republican National Committee and Trump allies are lining up media appearances in an attempt to discredit the book and its author.
Speaking with reporters at the White House, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said Comey “seems like a disgruntled ex-employee; after all, he was fired.”
In his morning tweets, Trump accused Comey of leaking classified intelligence and of mishandling the 2016 investigation of the private emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his election opponent.
“It was my great honor to fire James Comey,” Trump tweeted.