President Donald Trump called the former director of the FBI, James Comey, a "proven leaker and liar" and a "weak and untruthful slime ball" in a Friday morning tweet, less than a day after the release of excerpts from Comey's upcoming book.
Twitter Ads info and privacyThat fury was clearly in response to Comey's widely-leaked but unreleased new book "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership" in which the former law enforcement official describes the president's life as "a cocoon of alternative reality" and Trump himself as "untethered to truth". 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!"
Of Trump's practice of not criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Comey said, "I don't know what's behind that".
Comey, fired by Trump in May previous year, was anxious the president may be open to blackmail by Russian Federation given claims he was present when prostitutes urinated on each other during a 2013 Moscow visit.
"More and more lies", Comey said.
The exclusive "20/20" interview provided little new information, instead providing a tremendous amount of context around the months leading up to the 2016 general election and the relationship between the president and a federal department tasked with probing into the more salacious accusations of his administration. Mr Trump wrote early yesterday in one of five Twitter posts aimed directly at Mr Comey.
Comey's claim that unverified classified material exists that could have "cast serious doubt" on then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch's "independence" with the Clinton investigation.
"He. says he may want me to investigate it to prove that it didn't happen".
"There's something more important than that should unite all of us, and that is our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country", Comey told Stephanopoulos. Comey, Trump tweeted, "was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job".
Comey said he had noticed Trump's face "looked slightly orange up close with small white half-moons under his eyes, which I assume are from tanning goggles". "He is morally unfit to be president".
His probe has expanded to include whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Mr Comey.
Comey insisted that Trump knew he "was doing something improper".
In his book, Comey compares Trump to a mafia don and calls his leadership of the country "ego driven and about personal loyalty".
The White House and Republican Party have launched an effort to discredit Comey as outlets, including NPR, began reporting on the book's contents last week. She also said that Comey never raised any concerns with her regarding the email investigation.
He later said, though, that he did not believe Rosenstein would fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller if ordered by Trump to do so, and that Rosenstein "has an opportunity in overseeing Bob Mueller to restore some of his professional reputation".
The president's attacks on Comey began even before the interview aired. But Trump later said he was thinking about "this Russian Federation thing" around the time he made a decision to fire Comey.
"Yes. But not in the way m- I often hear people talk about it", he said. He believes Americans are "duty bound" to "go to the voting booth and vote their values".
Merriam-Webster, a Springfield, Massachusetts, publisher of dictionaries since the 19th century, defines "slimeball" as "a morally repulsive or odious person".
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