Comey book likens Donald Trump to mafia boss 'untethered to truth'

The former FBI director James Comey denounces Donald Trump as “untethered to truth” and likens the president to a mafia boss in an explosive new book expected to bring fresh turmoil to the White House, the Guardian reports.

Comey’s book, A Higher Loyalty, out next Tuesday, is published 11 months after he was fired by Trump, who allegedly tried to lean on him to shut down an investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Comey’s dismissal triggered the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian election meddling and alleged collusion between Moscow and Trump aides. Trump has denied collusion and called the investigation a “witch-hunt”.

In Comey’s book, obtained by the Guardian from a bookseller in New York, the former FBI chief describes his first trip to Trump Tower in January 2017, to brief the president-elect about the dossier on his links to Russia compiled by the former British spy Christopher Steele.

Comey writes that Trump “appeared shorter than he seemed on a debate stage with Hillary Clinton”. He adds: “His face appeared slightly orange, with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assume he placed small tanning goggles, and impressively coiffed, bright blond hair, which on close inspection looked to be all his. I remember wondering how long it must take him in the morning to get that done.”