- The Washington Times - Friday, April 13, 2018

It’s not that the nation doesn’t already know of James Comey’s utter contempt for President Donald Trump.

But there’s something about putting hatred to print that makes it all the more vicious.

And that’s what Comey seems to have done with his new tell-all book, poised to hit bookstores across the country. At least, that’s what the leaked excerpts suggest, anyway. Comey’s book is his way of getting the last word with the president — his way of exacting a revenge for being fired.

As CNN titters: “It is nothing less than the most devastating, contemporaneous takedown of a sitting president in modern history. The James Comey storm, brewing menacingly on the horizon for months, slammed into the White House just after 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, as the first leaks of the fired FBI director’s explosive new book started gushing out. … He painted Trump as a relentless liar who is obsessively unethical, devoid of humanity and a slave to his ego, who is clueless about his job and unconcerned about a Russian assault on American democracy.”

No really, Comey, tell us how you feel. Oh wait — we already know. Comey was, after all, a key leaker of private conversations with the president, not to mention the unofficial page of the FBI, documenting in detail all the behind-door dealings and chats with Trump in case “there might come a day when … a record of what happened” was needed, according to 2017 media reports. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure personal dislike figured into that documenting equation.

But this book, as leaks of its excerpts titillate, promises to be a final, formal record of Comey’s abject revulsion for Trump. Petulantly so. Kind of like when an angry kid shouts over his shoulder at his parents while slamming the door and storming from the house — yes, congratulations, you had the last word.

“Comey isn’t just out to hurt Trump’s feelings,” CNN wrote. “He is on a more profound mission: His book is a parable about the threat from a brazen president who demands a warped concept of loyalty and has only disdain for the rule of law.”

Among Comey’s quips?

Trump’s like a Mafia kingpin demanding a “silent circle of assent.” Trump’s hands are “smaller than mine.” And this, about the Trump White House in general: “We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized and unethical behavior is ignored, excused or rewarded.”

And where former FBI chiefs take to the book stores to try to upset whatever political peace does prevail by adding to the vicious rhetoric and branding the president a devil who must be removed, apparently.

Comey’s book will be well-received by the left and the anti-Trumpers of the right. But as far as his own legacy — his own professional trail?

“A Higher Loyalty” strikes as Comey’s testament to himself — to his bruised ego and last-ditch attempt to take revenge on a president he detests. In a month, it’ll be a forgotten screed, mentioned only by those with the deepest dislike for Trump.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.

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