Former FBI Director James Comey previewed his forthcoming book in a tweet Sunday telling audiences that he wrote about two presidents who are ethical leaders and one that ‘serves as a counterpoint,’ a likely dig at President Trump.
‘My book is about ethical leadership & draws on stories from my life & lessons I learned from others,’ Comey wrote. ‘3 presidents are in my book: 2 help illustrate the values at the heart of ethical leaders, 1 serves as a counterpoint.
‘I hope folks read the whole thing and find it useful,’ Comey added.
While Comey didn’t identify which president he used as a cautionary tale in his book, titled ‘A Higher Loyalty,’ the tweet came on the heels of President Trump going on a Twitter tirade over the ex-FBI chief Sunday morning.
Former FBI Director James Comey tweeted about his forthcoming book on Sunday, several hours after President Trump pummeled the fired federal official on Twitter
Former FBI Director James Comey’s ‘A Higher Loyalty’ comes out Tuesday. Comey said he included stories about three presidents in the book, two that showcase ‘ethical leadership,’ and one that is to serve as a counterpoint. It’s likely Trump is the latter
In a series of tweets, Trump suggested that Comey belonged in jail and blasted him with a new nickname.
‘Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!’ Trump said.
The president’s tweets come as Comey’s book is set to his bookshelves on Tuesday.
More pressing, however, is an interview Comey sat down for with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, which will air Sunday night.
In the book, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian, Comey writes about how working under the new president reminded him of his time ‘as a prosecutor against the mob.’
‘The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them worldview,’ Comey said. ‘The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and truth.’
This passage seemingly got under Trump’s skin.
‘I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty,’ Trump said. ‘I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His “memos” are self serving and FAKE!’
Comey had written a series of memos about his conversations with the president and then passed them off to the press after his May 2017 firing.
Trump also took issue with the fact that Comey thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the 2016 race, and factored that in to his handling of the reopening of the Clinton email probe.
‘It is entirely possible that, because I was making decisions in an environment where Hillary Clinton was sure to be the next president, my concern about making her an illegitimate president by concealing the restarted investigation bore greater weight than it would have if the election appeared closer or if Donald Trump were ahead in all polls,’ Comey explained in the book.
Comey’s letter to Congress 11 days before the election, in which he told lawmakers that the FBI was looking through another batch of Clinton’s emails, was one of the many reasons Clinton has given for losing the presidential race to Trump.
In a preview clip for Comey’s first broadcast network interview, which will air tonight on ABC News, the former FBI director says to George Stephanopoulous ‘I hope not,’ when asked if he believed his letter lost the election for Clinton.
On Sunday Trump wrote, ‘Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe.’
On Sunday morning, President Trump went on a tirade about former FBI Director James Comey, dedicating a number of tweets to the subject
President Trump charged with former FBI Director James Comey of lying after Comey said that Trump asked him for loyalty
President Trump didn’t like James Comey’s admission that he was working under the theory that Hillary Clinton was likely to win the 2016 presidential election
President Trump again brought up the 2016 tarmac meeting between President Obama’s Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, suggesting that some tit-for-tat was offered so Lynch would call off the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails
President Trump knocked former FBI Director James Comey’s ‘badly reviewed book,’ suggesting the ex-FBI head didn’t answer a number of key questions, while hinting he believed Comey belonged in jail
‘In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job,’ Trump suggested, ending the tweet by labeling Comey a ‘Slimeball!’
Parroting a New York Post headline, Trump also suggests that Comey throws former Attorney General Loretta Lynch ‘under the bus!’
‘Why can’t we find out what happened on the tarmac in the back of the plane with Wild Bill and Lynch?’ Trump said.
Former President Bill Clinton had boarded Lynch’s plane in July of 2016, with several months to go in the presidential campaign.
She’s called the meeting ‘innocuous,’ though Trump suggested Sunday that Clinton had promised her some tit-for-tat.
‘Was she promised a Supreme Court sea, or AG, in order to lay off Hillary,’ Trump mused. ‘No gold and grandkids talk (give us all a break)!’ he said, suggesting that the conversations between President Obama’s attorney general and the ex-president married to the Democratic nominee were not ‘innocuous.’
In another Sunday tweet, President Trump listed a number of things he believed Comey should have touched on in the forthcoming tome, while also suggesting Comey should be behind bars.
‘The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?’ Trump wrote.
He was referencing a political donation made to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s wife.
On Friday, Trump had gone on a tirade over Comey as well, calling him out as a ‘LEAKER & LIAR.’
‘Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in face fired,’ Trump said. ‘He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH.’
‘He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, at time has proven, a terrible director of the FBI,’ Trump wrote.
Trump, under the belief that Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted for mishandling classified information in her emails said Comey’s handling of the FBI case ‘will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” in history,’ he said.
‘It was a great honor to fire James Comey!’ the president said.