“The actions of one person can destroy what it took hundreds of people years to build,” James Comey writes in his new book. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
The former FBI director does more than dish on Trump’s behavior — his book offers a full-throated indictment of Trump’s character.
Former FBI Director James Comey pillories President Donald Trump in his soon-to-be-released book, “A Higher Loyalty,” deriding him as a cruel and selfish liar who is “unethical,” “untethered to the truth” and has likely never “recoiled from causing another person pain.”
From jabs at Trump’s height to ruminating on the status of his marriage, Comey leaves little question about how he feels about the 45th President.
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But throughout the book, a manuscript of which was obtained by POLITICO, Comey also seeks to draw deeper lessons about leadership — rebukes of Trump and those around him that may be lost in the headlines surrounding the book’s more startling details, like Trump’s apparent obsession with allegations concerning prostitutes in Moscow.
In those passages, though, Comey indicts not only Trump’s character but also that of many around him, and those in power who support and defend him.
Here are some of Comey’s more pointed passages that strike at the center of Trump’s worldview.
A rumination on what it means to live a good life: “Sit there, and imagine you are at the end of your life. From that vantage point, the smoke of striving for recognition and wealth is cleared. Houses, cars, awards on the wall? Who cares? You are about to die. Who do you want to have been? … I hope some of them decide to have been people who used their abilities to help those who needed it – the weak, the struggling, the frightened, the bullied. Standing for something. Making a difference. That is true wealth.”
On liars and lying: “I’ve seen many times over the years how liars get so good at lying, they lose the ability to distinguish between what’s true and what’s not. They surround themselves with other liars. The circle becomes closer and smaller, with those unwilling to surrender their moral compasses pushed out and those willing to tolerate deceit brought closer to the center of power. Perks and access are given to those willing to lie and tolerate lies. This creates a culture, which becomes an entire way of life. The easy, casual lies – those are a very dangerous thing. They open up the path to the bigger lies, in more important places, where the consequences aren’t so harmless.”
On the fragility of institutions: “The actions of one person can destroy what it took hundreds of people years to build.”
On effective leadership: “Effective leaders almost never need to yell. The leader will have created an environment where disappointing him causes his people to be disappointed in themselves. Guilt and affection are far more powerful motivators than fear. … A leader who screams at his employees or belittles them will not attract and retain great talent over the long term.”
On self-reflection: “But transparency is almost always the best course. Getting problems, pain, hopes, and doubts out on the table so we can talk honestly about them and work to improve is the best way to lead. By acknowledging our issues, we have the best chance of resolving them in a healthy way. Buried pain never gets better with age. And by remembering and being open and truthful about our mistakes, we reduce the chance we will repeat them.”
The impostor complex: “All of us labor, to one degree or another, under the belief that if other people really knew us, if they knew us the way we know ourselves, they would think less of us. That’s the impostor complex – the fear that by showing ourselves we will be exposed as the flawed person we are. If you don’t have this, in some measure, you are an incredible jerk and should stop reading immediately.”
On humility: “As I’d seen from other leaders, being confident enough to be humble – comfortable in your own skin – is at the heart of effective leadership. That humility makes a whole lot of things possible, none more important than a single, humble question: ‘What am I missing?’ Good leaders constantly worry about their limited ability to see.”
On Trump’s team: “I once again was having 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 of some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth.”
On Trump’s impact: “What is happening now is not normal. It is not fake news. It is not okay. Whatever your politics, it is wrong to dismiss the damage to the norms and traditions that have guided the presidency and our public life for decades or, in many cases, since the republic was founded. It is also wrong to stand idly by, or worse, to stay silent when you know better, while a president brazenly seeks to undermine public confidence in law enforcement institutions that were established to keep our leaders in check.”
In advance of a publicity tour by James B. Comey to promote his new book, the Republican National Committee is preparing a widespread campaign to undercut his credibility, including a new website that dubs the former FBI director as “Lyin’ Comey.”
The website prominently features quotes from Democrats highly critical of Comey before his firing by Trump nearly a year ago as the president grew agitated by the Russia probe.
RNC officials say their effort will also include digital ads, a “war room” to monitor Comey’s television appearances, a rapid response team to rebut his claims in real time and coordination of Trump surrogates to fan out across other TV programs.
The broadside against Comey — a registered Republican for most of his adult life — comes as he set to begin a media tour to tout his memoir, “A Higher Loyalty,” which is expected to be brutally critical of Trump.
In advance of the book’s release on Tuesday, Comey is scheduled to appear in an interview airing Sunday night with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos. A teaser for the interview says Comey compares Trump to a “mob boss.”
“James Comey’s publicity tour is a self-serving attempt to make money and rehabilitate his own image,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “If Comey wants the spotlight back on him, we’ll make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility.”
The RNC effort underscores the incredibly high stakes for Trump and his party as Comey details his interactions with the president, including his claim that Trump asked for a loyalty test. Many Democrats, meanwhile, are hopeful that new revelations will further bolster a case for the president’s impeachment.
Comey’s firing set off a chain of events that have endangered Trump’s presidency. The Justice Department appointed Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel to probe Russian interference in the 2016 election — and possible collusion with the Trump campaign — in the aftermath of Comey’s ouster.
With the Mueller probe escalating — including the FBI raid this week of Trump’s personal lawyer’s home and office in Manhattan — Comey’s media appearances could pose a major public relations challenge for the White House.
“I’ve been around politics a long time, and I know fear when I see it,” said Jim Manley, a lobbyist and former senior aide to former Senate minority leader Harry M. Reid. “This White House reeks of fear. … This shows me that they are prepared to use a scorched-earth strategy to undermine the FBI’s credibility. The party of law and order has become the party of trying to protect Trump at all costs.”
Doug Heye, a former RNC communications director, said the Republican effort shows Comey’s publicity tour is “going to dominate news coverage. He’s going to seemingly everywhere.”
But Heye said the RNC is doing its job. “It would be political malpractice not to do this,” he said.
Heye said the biggest challenge for Republicans could be combatting claims from Comey that have not previously made headlines.
In recent weeks, Trump has continued to attack Comey on Twitter, and Comey has suggested he will have his say through his book.
“Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not,” Comey said in a tweet last month.
Earlier this week, Comey tweeted a picture of the room in his home where he was interviewed by Stephanopoulos, which had been transformed into a small television studio.
“Not how my house normally looks,” Comey wrote. “One chair for George, one for me.”
Though Comey was a registered Republican for most of his adult life, he has said he no longer is. He was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and deputy attorney general by President George W. Bush; he was appointed FBI director by President Barack Obama.
Following Sunday’s interview, Comey has numerous other bookings, including news programs as well as appearances with CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert and the hosts of “The View.”
A large reception is also planned on Tuesday, the day of the book release, at the Newseum in Washington.
Among those quoted on the RNC website is the 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, who argued her campaign was seriously undercut by the FBI’s investigation, overseen by Comey, into her use of a private email server while secretary of state. “Badly overstepped his bounds,” Clinton is quoted as saying of Comey.
Other Democrats whose past quotes are included on the website include Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) (“I do not have confidence in [Comey] any longer”), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) (“The FBI director has no credibility.”) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (“It would not be a bad thing for the American people if [Comey] did step down.”).
