News Analysis |
Former FBI director James Comey has disclosed in his book that President Donald Trump had no sense of what was right and wrong. In his startling book titled: A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, the former senior US official stated that
The tycoon-turned-president reminded him of a mafia boss who ‘demanded absolute loyalty, saw the entire world against him and lied about everything’. The book not only reveals the political handling of Trump but also sheds light on the murky character of Republican, mentioning about the alleged existence of a video in which Russian prostitutes believed to be hired by Trump, urinated on the bed in a Moscow hotel room.
Comey – whom Trump fired in May 2017 – writes that the US president lives in “a cocoon of alternative reality” that he tried to pull others around him into. According to the excerpts of the book published by the Washington Post, ‘This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values,’ and his leadership is transactional, ego-driven and about personal loyalty.
The big gun of US power corridor remained in the spotlight as he was handling the landmark probe into the private e-mail server used by the then-Democratic standard bearer Hillary Clinton, who was poised to lead America in 2017.
Regarding the ‘carnal’ character of the 71-year-old president, Comey says Trump was obsessed with the ‘pee tape’, the existence of which was first reported by a former British spy, who researched alleged links between Trump’s campaign and US’ arch-nemesis, Russia.
Comey writes that his former boss asked him to investigate what he called the ‘golden showers thing’, saying Trump was determined to negate the presence of it to his wife Melania. “He just rolled on, unprompted, explaining why it couldn’t possibly be true, ending by saying he was thinking of asking me to investigate the allegation to prove it was a lie”, stated the 57-year-old lawyer.
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According to ABC News, Trump’s behavior was such that at one point, he discussed the political implications of the dossier and possible strategies while intelligence community leaders remained in the room. “I’m a germaphobe. There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me,” he insisted, as per Comey.
However, Trump’s concern over the alleged ‘pee video’ continued with more sex scandals hitting the headlines and denting the reputation of the president. Speaking on the Moscow video, Comey wrote, Trump “strongly denied the allegations, asking — rhetorically, I assumed — whether he seemed like a guy who needed the service of prostitutes”.
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, the former senior US official stated that The tycoon-turned-president reminded him of a mafia boss who ‘demanded absolute loyalty, saw the entire world against him and lied about everything’.
Comey says Trump then began discussing the women who had accused him of sexual assault to his surprise as he had not raised any such issue. According to the excerpts, Trump mentioned a number of women and seemed to have memorized their allegations.
On the other hand, Donald Trump has not kept mum over the astonishing disclosures, terming Comey a ‘liar and leaker’. Using his traditional mode of communication, Trump lashed out at Comey on Friday and tweeted that the former FBI chief leaked ‘CLASSIFIED’ information, for which he should be prosecuted.
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Trump, whose repute is once again at stake owing to damaging revelations, said that Comey lied to Congress under oath and it was his honor to fire him. Terming Comey a ‘slimeball’, the Republican claimed that he was the terrible director of FBI, whose handling of ‘crooked’ Hillary’s case among other cases would be regarded as worst ‘botch jobs’ of history.
Besides Trump, the White House has sought to cast doubts about Comey’s reputation with the Republican Party actually establishing a website called “Lyin’ Comey” to undermine and contradict the excerpts of the book. According to political observers, Comey’s reputation is much higher than Trump and the White House occupant would have a hard time battling the scathing allegations.
Speaking on the Moscow video, Comey wrote, Trump “strongly denied the allegations, asking — rhetorically, I assumed — whether he seemed like a guy who needed the service of prostitutes”.
Last year, Comey revealed that Trump had pressured him to drop an investigation into Mike Flynn, the US leader’s former national security advisor, besides demanding a loyalty pledge, which he refused. Comey was sacked on May 9 and a week later the Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who pursued the probe but not with such transparency though indicting 19 so far, including top Trump lieutenants.
“A Higher Loyalty” which is sure to become the next bestseller shares little new about the Russia investigation as Comey is bound to respect the classified nature of the Mueller investigation that Trump termed “fake & corrupt”. James Comey, besides his book, had hurled damaging allegations last year while he was probing into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign’s possible hidden agreement with Russia to influence the election results.
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Mr Comey who was fourth years into a 10-year stint became the second director in Bureau’s history to be fired by any US President; the first one was William S. Sessions in 1993 by Bill Clinton. The big gun of US power corridor remained in the spotlight as he was handling the landmark probe into the private e-mail server used by the then-Democratic standard bearer Hillary Clinton, who was poised to lead America in 2017.
Comey had said in July 2016 that the Clinton email case should be closed without prosecution, but then days before the election, he reopened the investigation because of a discovery of a new trove of Clinton-related emails. Donald Trump had then responded through his loaded tweets that Hillary Clinton was colluding with FBI and Department of Justice.