Donald Trump in Higher Loyalty, by James Comey

On Principles & Values: FBI: Trump had fewer people at inauguration than Obama

This small moment was deeply disconcerting to those of us in the business of trying to find the truth, [by which we mean there] are things that are objectively, verifiably either true or false.

It was simply not true that the biggest crowd in history attended the inauguration, as he asserted, or even that Trump's crowd was bigger than Obama's. To say otherwise was not to offer an opinion, a view, a perspective. It was a lie.

On Principles & Values: OpEd 2016: Putin hated Hillary and wanted to help Trump win

First, they sought to undermine confidence in the American democratic enterprise--to dirty us up so that our election process would no longer be an inspiration to the rest of the world.

Second, the Russians wanted to hurt Hillary Clinton. Putin hated her, blaming her personally for large street demonstrations against him in Moscow in December 2011. Putin took that as an unforgivable personal attack.

Third, Putin wanted to help Donald Trump win. Trump had been saying favorable things about the Russian government and Putin had shown a long-standing appreciation for business Leaders who cut deals rather than stand on principle.

On Technology: Be more aggressive against leakers of classified information

But I also told him that if we could make a case--if we could nail a leaker of classified information to the wall--it would serve as an important deterrence signal. Although I had made no reference about going after members of the media, the president said something about how we once put reporters in jail and made them talk.

This was a reference to the Scooter Libby investigation, when N.Y. Times reporter Judith Miller spent nearly three months in jail in 2005 in contempt of court for refusing to comply with a court order for information about her conversations with Libby. He then urged me to talk to attorney general Sessions about ways to be more aggressive.

On Principles & Values: OpEd: Trump is dangerous because he isn't tethered to truth

COMEY: I chose that words carefully, "dangerous." At first, I thought, "Is that an overstatement?" And I don't think it is.

Q: Why not?

COMEY: I worry that the norms at the center of this country--we can fight as Americans about guns or taxes, and we always have--but what we have in common is a set of norms. Most importantly, the truth. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," right? And if we lose tethering of our leaders to that truth, what are we? The foundation of this country is in jeopardy when we stop measuring our leaders against that central value of the truth.

Q: Are we losing it?

COMEY: I think we are in part. But I think we're going to outlast it. That there will be damage to that norm. But I liken President Trump in the book to a forest fire. Going to do tremendous damage. Going to damage those important norms. But a forest fire gives healthy things a chance to grow that had no chance before that fire.

On Principles & Values: OpEd: Trump demands loyalty, like a mob boss

COMEY: The title comes from a bizarre conversation I had with the president in January of last year, where he asked for my loyalty personally. My loyalty's supposed to be to the American people and to the institution. He said, "I expect loyalty, I need loyalty." And I did not reply.

Q: Why not say no?

COMEY: Because I was caught totally by surprise. Later, he said, again, "I need loyalty." And I said, "You will always get honesty from me." And he paused and said, "Honest loyalty," as if he was proposing some compromise. And I paused and said, "You'll get that from me."

Q: Was that a mistake?

COMEY: Maybe. I felt like he's kidding himself if he thinks I just promised that I'm "amica nostra." But in hindsight, I should've done it differently.

Q: You're comparing the president to a mob boss?

COMEY: I'm talking about that leadership culture [of mob bosses demanding loyalty] me when I think about my experience with the Trump administration.

On Principles & Values: OpEd:FBI believes Steele Dossier showed Russian interference

COMEY: That it, at its core, was consistent with the other information we'd gathered during the intelligence investigation. That there was a massive Russian effort underway to interfere with our election with three goals: to dirty up the American democracy so it's not a shining light for others around the world; to hurt Hillary Clinton, who Vladimir Putin personally hated; and to help Donald Trump become elected president. Those allegations are at the core of the Steele dossier, and we already knew that was true from totally separate information. And it was coming from a credible source.

Q: Did you know it had been financed at the beginning by President Trump's political opponents?

COMEY: I was told at some point that the effort had originally been financed by a Republican source to develop opposition research on Trump, and then Democrats were paying for it.

On Principles & Values: OpEd: FBI investigation of Hillary's email proves relevance

COMEY: With thousands of emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop, the question is, "So what do we do now?" I can't see a door that's labeled, "No action here." I can only see two doors: "Speak," and "Conceal."

Q: You knew that candidate Trump is going to say, "This proves everything I've been saying about Hillary Clinton is right." Five previous attorney generals all disagree with you. They say this crossed a line.

COMEY: Yeah, I've heard a lot of that. That was allegedly the reason for my firing.

Q: If you knew that letter would elect Donald Trump, you'd still send it?

COMEY: I would. Because down that path [if the letter was not sent] lies the death of the FBI as an independent force in American life. I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump, and if I hide this from the American people, she'll be illegitimate the moment she's elected, the moment this comes out.