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| Donald Trump says that fired FBI director James Comey, whose new memoir portrays the US president as morally unfit for the office, is guilty of 'major crimes' |
Trump accused Comey of lying to Congress and exonerating Hillary Clinton in a 2016 investigation because of her strong poll numbers in the presidential race.
"Comey drafted the Crooked Hillary exoneration long before
he talked to her (lied in Congress to Senator G)," Trump fired in an
early morning tweet.
"Then based his decisions on her poll
numbers. Disgruntled, he, [former FBI deputy director Andrew] McCabe,
and the others, committed many crimes!"
Late Sunday, Comey
launched a publicity tour for his new memoir, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth,
Lies and Leadership," with an ABC television interview in which he
branded Trump a serial liar who will "stain everyone around him."
Comey's
book, which leaked out last week ahead of its official release Tuesday,
takes on the president who fired him in May 2017 over the troubling
Russia election meddling investigation, a probe that poses a deep threat
to Trump's 15-month-old presidency.
- Trump 'morally unfit' -
Comey
is schedule to give interviews on the book to major television networks
this week and travel to a dozen cities to promote the book in person.
"I think he's morally unfit to be president," Comey told ABC.
Trump
"talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat" and "lies
constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people
believe it."
Comey also said that serving in Trump's administration poses a serious ethical dilemma.
"The challenge of this president is that he will stain everyone around him," he told ABC.
"And
the question is, how much stain is too much stain and how much stain
eventually makes you unable to accomplish your goal of protecting the
country and serving the country?"
- Republicans: 'Lyin' Comey' -
Trump
and the Republicans have sought to stifle the impact of his book by
accusing Comey of leaking classified materials and of corruptly handling
the 2016 investigation into Clinton.
The Republican Party set up a website to attack the book, branding him "Lyin' Comey."
Trump
called Comey an "untruthful slime ball" and said it was his "great
honor" to fire the veteran Justice Department prosecutor.
"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 Sunday.
In a separate ABC interview, White House press
secretary Sarah Sanders reiterated the charges of lying and divulging
classified materials.
"Look, it's been very clear that James Comey is a self-admitted leaker. He lied to Congress," she said.
- Trump's legal troubles -
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| In a new book, former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey says Donald Trump is immoral and unfit to be US president |
That damning account has infuriated the president at a moment of intensifying legal pressure on other fronts.
The probe into possible collusion between the Trump
campaign and Russians during the 2016 presidential race, now led by
independent special prosecutor Robert Mueller, increasingly menaces
Trump's inner circle.
And last week federal agents in New York
raided the office and hotel room of Trump's longtime personal lawyer and
fixer Michael Cohen, possibly in connection with secret hush payments
he made to women claiming they had affairs with Trump.
In his
interview Sunday, Comey said Trump could be guilty of obstruction of
justice in the way he tried to get the FBI to drop a probe of one of his
staff in early 2017.
But Comey said he could not confirm
suspicions that Moscow possesses compromising material -- an alleged
lurid video of the president with prostitutes -- or evidence of
collusion during the election that could be used to blackmail the US
president
"I think it's possible. I don't know," Comey said.
AFP
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