Amy Chozik writes in Chasing Hillary that Vice President Joe Biden had confided — off the record — to the White House press corps that he wanted to run for president, but he added “You guys don’t understand these people. The Clintons will try to destroy me,” according to the Daily Beast.
Political Books
The Red and the Blue
This will be a must-read: The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism by Steve Kornacki.
Every Bestselling Book Has Been About Trump
Since January, each book at the top of the New York Times best-seller list has had one thing in common: President Trump, CNN reports.
Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury held onto the No. 1 spot until Michael Isikoff and David Corn’s Russian Roulette came along in March. It was dethroned by Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World, a book by Jennifer Palmieri, the former communications director for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
James Comey’s book A Higher Loyalty will surely keep the streak alive.
James Comey Speaks
Former FBI Director James Comey finally broke his silence with an extensive interview on ABC News.
A key Comey quote: “A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds.”
The Washington Post reports Comey also said that Trump was “morally unfit to be president,” and that it was “possible” that the Russians had material that could be used to blackmail him.
The New York Times has annotated excerpts.
Comey’s much-anticipated book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, is out on Tuesday.
Comey Comments ‘Will Shock the President’
Former FBI Director James Comey will be interviewed on ABC News tonight at 10 p.m. ET.
Mike Allen: “Sources familiar with the Comey interview say ABC has held back some of his strongest news-making bites. A source present at the taping said Comey’s comments will ‘shock the president and his team’ and ‘add more meat to the charges swirling around Trump.'”
Quote of the Day
“Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!”
— President Trump, on Twitter.
Quote of the Day
“I have never met Hillary Clinton, although I tried. When I became the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in January 2002, I asked my assistant to arrange an introduction to the state’s junior senator. After a number of attempts and multiple messages with Clinton’s office, we gave up. It wasn’t a big deal at the time, but I found it odd. To this day, I don’t know why the meeting never happened.”
— Former FBI Director James Comey, writing in A Higher Loyalty.
Comey’s Book Could Complicate Russia Investigation
Politico: “His book, A Higher Loyalty, represents an official statement on key parts of the federal Russia probe-including the question of whether Trump may have sought to obstruct justice, a question Mueller is investigating. Legal experts warn that Comey’s own words could complicate court proceedings or a Congressional impeachment debate triggered by Mueller’s findings.”
“Prosecutors like Mueller generally cringe when a witness speaks at length in public before a case has wrapped up. Comey’s blockbuster book and accompanying media tour, which kicks off in primetime on Sunday, will also expose him to the watchful eye of Trump allies and defense lawyers ready to exploit any inconsistencies in his accounts to their clients’ benefit.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Also really glad that I hit number 1 just under the wire before Jim Comey’s book comes out next week and he crushes my dream. AGAIN.”
— Former Clinton communication director Jennifer Palmieri, on Twitter, touting that her book, Dear Madame President, will top the New York Times bestseller list this weekend.
Comey Publisher Printing 850K Copies
The publisher of James Comey’s book A Higher Loyalty is printing 850,000 copies to meet the expected demand from buyers, CNN reports.
To put that number in perspective: The initial print run of Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury was just 150,000 copies.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’m a germaphobe. There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me, no way.”
— Donald Trump, as quoted by James Comey in A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, denying allegations made in the Steele dossier.
Trump Slams Comey as a ‘Slime Ball’
President Trump attacked former FBI Director James Comey on Twitter:
James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!
Comey’s memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, is out next week.
Comey Tells His ‘Very Persuasive’ Story
The New York Times reviews James Comey’s new book, A Higher Loyalty, in which he calls the Trump presidency a “forest fire” that is doing serious damage to the country’s norms and traditions.
Writes Comey: “This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty.”
“Decades before he led the F.B.I.’s investigation into whether members of Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, Comey was a career prosecutor who helped dismantle the Gambino crime family; and he doesn’t hesitate in these pages to draw a direct analogy between the Mafia bosses he helped pack off to prison years ago and the current occupant of the Oval Office.”
“The central themes that Comey returns to throughout this impassioned book are the toxic consequences of lying; and the corrosive effects of choosing loyalty to an individual over truth and the rule of law.”
Comey Says Kelly Called Trump ‘Dishonorable’ In Firing
“Within minutes of his firing in May, former FBI director James Comey received a call from John Kelly, then the head of the Department of Homeland Security and now the White House chief of staff, the Daily Beast reports.
“According to Comey’s account, which is set to appear in his highly-anticipated forthcoming memoir, Kelly was ’emotional’ over the manner in which Comey was let go… Kelly, Comey recalls, said he was ‘sick’ about the situation and ‘intended to quit’ in protest. Kelly ‘said he didn’t want to work for dishonorable people,’ referring specifically to President Trump, who appeared to be upset at the FBI’s persistent investigation into his campaign’s possible collusion with Russian officials.”
“According to sources, Comey writes in his book that he encouraged Kelly to remain in his post, saying ‘this president,’ more than his predecessors, needed people of principle and integrity around him.”
Inside the GOP Plan to Discredit Comey
President Trump’s allies “are preparing an extensive campaign to fight back against James Comey’s publicity tour, trying to undermine the credibility of the former FBI director by reviving the blistering Democratic criticism of him before he was fired nearly a year ago,” CNN reports.
“The battle plan against Comey, obtained by CNN, calls for branding the nation’s former top law enforcement official as ‘Lyin’ Comey’ through a website, digital advertising and talking points to be sent to Republicans across the country before his memoir is released next week. The White House signed off on the plan, which is being overseen by the Republican National Committee.”
Comey’s much-anticipated book, A Higher Loyalty, is out next week.