Former FBI director James Comey has been both admired and reviled by both sides of the political spectrum over the past three years.
His announcement that the Hillary Clinton investigation was being reopened just days before the 2016 election was seen by Democrats as an attempt to thwart her election bid, while his investigation into the Trump administration’s possible collusion with Russia has made him a target for Republican scorn.
President Trump would later fire Comey for “this Russia thing,” leading to an investigation into potential obstruction of justice.
With the upcoming release of his book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” Comey is back in the spotlight. According to The Washington Post, in the book, Comey “describes Trump as a congenital liar and unethical leader, devoid of human emotion and driven by personal ego.”
Here’s more of Comey’s biggest revelations in the memoir:
Trump is obsessed with the pee-pee tape mentioned in the Steele dossier.
According to raw intelligence gathered by former British MI6 agent Michael Steele, in 2013, Trump had a group of prostitutes urinate on a bed at a Moscow hotel room where President Obama and his wife once stayed. Comey’s memoir notes that:
“[Trump] strongly denied the allegations, asking — rhetorically, I assumed — whether he seemed like a guy who needed the service of prostitutes. He then began discussing cases where women had accused him of sexual assault, a subject I had not raised. He mentioned a number of women, and seemed to have memorized their allegations.”
On Jan. 11, 2017, Trump called Comey saying he couldn’t have been involved in a pee-pee tape because he’s a germaphobe:
“There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me. No way.”
Trump brought up the tape once again at a one-on-one dinner meeting with Comey.
“It bothered [Trump] if there was ‘even a one percent chance’ his wife, Melania, thought it was true.”
At the same meeting, Trump was unfamiliar with the word “calligrapher.”
“One place setting was marked with a calligraphy card reading, ‘Director Comey.’ The other spot, presumably, was for the president. …
‘They write these things out one at a time, by hand,’ he marvels, referring to the White House staff.
‘A calligrapher,’ I replied, nodding.
He looked quizzical. ‘They write them by hand,’ he repeated.”
Comey compares the Trump administration to the mafia.
“Lying about things, large and small, in service to some warped code of loyalty. These rules and standards were hallmarks of the Mafia, but throughout my career I’d be surprised how often I’d find them applied outside of it.”
“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 organization above morality and above the truth.”
President Obama had a pretty funny reaction to Comey saying he would inform Trump about the pee-pee tape allegations.
“[Obama] turned his head to his left and looked directly at me. He raised and lowered both of his eyebrows with emphasis, and then looked away. … To my mind his Groucho Marx eyebrow raise was both subtle humor and an expression of concern. It was almost as if he were saying, ‘Good luck with that.’ ”
Comey goes into deep detail about Trump’s bizarre appearance.
“His face appeared slightly orange with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles, and impressively coiffed, bright blond hair, which upon close inspection looked to be all his.”
“As he extended his hand. I made a mental note to check its size. It was smaller than mine, but did not seem unusually so.”
“I stared at the soft white pouches under his expressionless blue eyes. I remember thinking in that moment that the president doesn’t understand the FBI’s role in American life.”
Comey is suspicious of Trump’s ties to Russia.
“I had often wondered why, when given numerous opportunities to condemn the Russian government’s invasions of its neighbors and repression — even murder — of its own citizens, Trump refused to just state the plain facts.”
