Former President Barack Obama’s ethics czar suggested Monday that former FBI Director James Comey could sue President Trump for defamation after the president accused him of committing “many crimes.”
“This false, malicious accusation of criminal conduct is libel per se by Trump. @Comey could sue — & might win. Despite absolute official immunity, open legal question whether defamation using personal Twitter may be outside its scope. See Nixon v Fitzgerald,” Eisen tweeted.
This false, malicious accusation of criminal conduct is libel per se by Trump. @Comey could sue—& might win. Despite absolute official immunity, open legal question whether defamation using personal Twitter may be outside its scope. See Nixon v Fitzgerald. https://t.co/5YpNSIfiS3
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) April 16, 2018
Eisen, who served in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform from 2009 to 2011, was referencing a tweet from Trump on Monday morning that attacked Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for their actions in the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“Comey drafted the Crooked Hillary exoneration long before he talked to her (lied in Congress to Senator G), then based his decisions on her poll numbers. Disgruntled, he, McCabe, and others, committed many crimes,” Trump tweeted.
It’s unclear what specific crimes Trump believes Comey committed.
The president’s tweet is his first since Comey’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos aired Sunday night.
Comey said during the interview it’s possible but “unlikely” that Trump was compromised by Russian operatives, and said the president may have obstructed justice when he suggested that Comey should drop the FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The former FBI chief’s interview Sunday, his first since Trump fired him in May, kicked off a media blitz as Comey promotes his new book, “A Higher Loyalty,” which hits shelves Tuesday.
The president has spent the past few weeks claiming Comey is a “liar” and a “leaker,” and accusing the former FBI director of lying to Congress.
