President Donald Trump Unleashes Himself In A Twitter Tirade Against Former FBI Chief James Comey

U.S. President Donald Trump has come out all guns blazing against former FBI Director James Comey, on his favourite communication platform – Twitter. In a series of tweets, the President sharply attacked James Comey, who is releasing a memoir this week and notes his interactions with U.S.’s 45^th President.

Comey’s book is a scathing depiction of his interactions with Trump, in which he likens the president to an “unethical” mob boss and casts his inner circle in largely unflattering terms, saying it was more focused on politics than national security.

According to excerpts of the book obtained by the Washington Post, Mr Comey writes that interactions with Trump gave him "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 worldview. The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organisation above morality and above the truth".

The result was "the forest fire that is the Trump presidency", he says.

Trump on Sunday pushed back again against Comey's claims that Trump sought his loyalty, saying, "I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies." He questioned Comey's intelligence and place in history, writing, "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 also suggested Comey should be imprisoned, saying "how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail)." There is no indication Comey is under investigation for doing either.

Donald Trump was unrelenting in his scathing description of James Comey and continued to justify his firing of the FBI director, when it came to be known that he himself was the subject of an FBI probe due to his campaign’s connections to Russian influence during the 2016 presidential elections. Comey’s firing spurred the appointment of a special counsel, Robert Mueller III, and a broader investigation into Trump’s campaign and administration — a probe that now includes potential obstruction of justice and Trump’s business dealings.

Comey is embarking on a public roll-out of his book, "A Higher Loyalty," which comes out Tuesday. Preview sales of A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies & Leadership have already made the memoir a best-seller on Amazon.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2018 06:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).