Former FBI Director James Comey blasts President Donald Trump as "untethered to truth" in his new book out next week.
Discussing his interactions with Trump in which he says the president asked for "loyalty" and urged him to consider "letting [Michael] Flynn go," Comey indicts the Trump presidency as chaotic and the president himself as unbound to traditional ethics in A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership.
"This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values," Comey writes. "The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them worldview. The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth."
"What is happening now is not normal," he writes. "It is not fake news. It is not okay."
Comey, according to the New York Times, devotes a large part of his 304-page book to concern over the country's direction under the Trump administration.
"I could see how easily everyone in the room could become a co-conspirator to his preferred set of facts, or delusions," he writes.
"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."
According to reports by outlets which have obtained the book, Comey does not offer revelations about the sprawling investigation into Russian interference in the election and allegations of collusion with the Trump campaign.