Comey hits out at 'unethical' Trump as book goes on sale

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Former FBI director James Comey's controversial book retained top spot on Amazon's bestseller list on Tuesday as he continued to take shots at US President Donald Trump during a media blitz.

Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017, has been accused of trying to even the score with the president in a book which includes his thoughts on leadership and substantive detail on interactions with the US president as well as gossip and personal observations.

Former FBI director James Comey arrives for a taping of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in ‍New York City, US, April 17, 2018. /VCG Photo

"A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership" was released in stores on Tuesday, but excerpts have been widely trailed in the media over the previous days and Comey sat down for a marathon five-hour interview with ABC over the weekend.

Comey accused Trump of being "morally unfit to lead" in the ABC interview, and claimed Trump may be vulnerable to blackmail.

The former FBI man has come under sustained fire from the White House and TV pundits close to the president. Trump tweeted during the weekend that Comey was a "slimeball," "a leaker & liar" and a terrible FBI director. On Monday, he returned to Twitter to accuse Comey and "others" of committing "many crimes," without offering any evidence.

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The personal nature of some of Comey's observations has surprised observers. In an interview with NPR on Tuesday, Comey retorted that his descriptions of Trump's over-long neckties, his tangerine hair and skin, and the size of his hands were simply an attempt to engage the reader through vivid storytelling.

"I'm not making fun of the president. I'm trying to be an author, which I've never been before in my life," Comey said. "But while I'm typing, I can hear my editor's voice ringing in my head, 'Bring the reader with you. Show them inside your head. Bring them with you'."

The former FBI chief condemned Trump as having brought to the US capital never-before seen values and ways in a US president, and running the White House like a Mafia don.

"This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values," he writes in the book. "What is happening now is not normal."

Comey has also been criticized by figures close to Hillary Clinton for his revelation that the Democratic candidate's poll lead in 2016 may have contributed to his decision to announce that an investigation into her email practices had been reopened shortly before election day. Some Clinton supporters blame her election defeat on his announcement.

Copies of a new book by former FBI director James Comey on sale at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York City, US, April 17, 2018. /VCG Photo

Amid criticism of the timing and motivations of the book, Comey on Tuesday strongly defended the publication and denied suggestions he wanted to enter politics.

"Never. I will never run for office. Not even a close call,” he told NPR. “I'm going to teach about leadership and ethics, and so I'm going to be a professor, which is exciting, and speak about leadership… I'm going to use my book in the class, and I'm going to buy it for the students, because I'm not going to be one of those professors.”

"A Higher Loyalty" has enjoyed strong pre-orders, and held onto its spot Tuesday as the top selling book on Amazon, including both fiction and non-fiction.

According to CNN, Flatiron Books, an imprint of publishing giant Macmillan, has printed an initial 850,000 copies, and expects to print more.

Comey is doing a number of media interviews and plans appearances in about a dozen cities, where the public has snapped up tickets, at 25-35 US dollars each, to hear him talk.

(With input from agencies)