In a statement Friday making it official, the FBI announced Acting Deputy Director David Bowdich will permanently retain the position he has held on an interim basis since his predecessor’s ouster.

Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe was fired last month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions just over a day before he would have been eligible for his full pension.

Though McCabe had been a frequent target of ridicule by President Donald Trump, Sessions cited a yet-to-be-released inspector general’s report indicating that the high-ranking official improperly relayed information to reporters as the reason for his decision.

McCabe’s replacement had been associate deputy director prior the promotion to acting deputy director.

A formal announcement Friday by FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed widespread speculation that Bowdich would retain the position on a full-time basis.

The promotion marks the latest achievement in a career that included leading the bureau’s response to the deadly mass shooting at an office holiday party in San Bernardino, California, in 2015. Bowdich had earlier served on a tactical team and performed duties as a sniper.

With the announcement came a chain of open positions for which Wray also provided updates.

Bowdich’s old post will be filled by Paul Abbate, the official heretofore in charge of the bureau’s criminal and cyber investigations branch.

The position vacated by Abbate’s promotion will be filled by David Resch, who has been serving as an assistant director of training at the FBI’s Quantico academy in Virginia.

Wray also announced several other personnel changes, though most of the media attention related to McCabe’s replacement amid continued attacks on the FBI by Trump and many of his allies.

Trump has renewed his vitriol against former FBI Director James Comey in the wake of the released excerpts from the latter’s soon-to-be-released memoir.

The president has similarly belittled McCabe’s service at the bureau.

In light of that pattern, which included an executive tweet soon after Sessions’ decision, McCabe concluded he was fired for political reasons.

Trump tweeted that it was a “great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI” and “for Democracy” in reference to the decision to fire McCabe.

He also took the opportunity to again pile on his frequent foe and McCabe’s former superior.

“Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy,” Trump wrote. “He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!”

In a tweet late last year, Trump also referenced the pension McCabe came within hours of receiving.

“FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits,” he wrote. “90 days to go?!!!”

What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</s>
• James Comey's new book describes attempts to defend himself from what he saw as inappropriate meetings with President Donald Trump.
• Comey, who was fired as FBI director in May, said Trump asked him to meet privately twice and seemed to lean on him for political advantage.
• Comey said he asked Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, to "be between me and the president."
• He said Sessions responded by not meeting his gaze, darting his eyes around, and letting Comey know he was on his own.

James Comey has accused Attorney General Jeff Sessions of shirking the responsibility of standing up to President Donald Trump to prevent him from trying to subvert the independence of the FBI.

Comey, who Trump fired as FBI director in May, described Sessions ignoring a direct plea to help him avoid situations where he was left alone with Trump, a violation of US government norms that he saw as undermining the FBI's independence.

In "A Higher Loyalty," Comey's memoir set to be released Tuesday, Comey said he made the request of Sessions after the second time Trump drew him into a private conservation that Comey described as an attempt to gain political advantage.

Comey described meeting Sessions at a secure conference room inside the Department of Justice, shortly after Trump asked Comey to stay behind after a White House intelligence briefing:

"When the room was clear, I did what I had promised the president and passed along his concerns about leaks and his expectation that we would be aggressive in pursuing them.

"Under the optimistic assumption that the attorney general had any control over President Trump, I then took the opportunity to implore him to prevent any future one-on-one communications between the president and me.

"'That can't happen,' I said. 'You are my boss. You can't be kicked out of the room so he can talk to me alone. You have to be between me and the president.'

"He didn't ask me whether anything happened that troubled me, and I didn't say, for reasons discussed above. Instead, in a move that would become familiar to me, Sessions cast his eyes down at the table, and they darted quickly back and forth, side to side.

"To my memory, he said nothing. After a brief moment of eye darting, he put both hands on the table and stood, thanking me for coming.

"I read in his posture and face a message that he would not be able to help me."

In the one-on-one meeting, Comey says, Trump seemed to suggest that Comey should stop the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, related to his communications with Russians.

It followed the now well-known "loyalty dinner" at which, Comey says, Trump asked for his allegiance, a request Comey has likened to the behavior of a mob boss.

Comey saw the meetings as an attempt by Trump to drag the FBI into political matters. Describing his discomfort, Comey wrote:

"The head of the FBI could not be put into the position of meeting and chatting privately with the President of the United States — especially after an election like 2016.

"The very notion would compromise the Bureau's hard-won integrity and independence."

Comey has taken aim at Trump's character in the book and in media appearances. In an interview that aired Sunday on ABC, he said Trump was "morally unfit" to be president.

Meanwhile, Trump has derided Comey in recent days, referring to him on Twitter as a "slimeball" and suggesting he ought to be jailed.</s>President Barack Obama says Donald Trump does not appear to have basic knowledge about critical issues and is “woefully unprepared to do this job.”

“This job” being the President of the United States.

Mr. Obama also questioned why Republican leaders continue to endorse Trump while at the same time repeatedly denouncing what he says.

On Wednesday’s edition of NewsOne Now, Roland Martin and his panel of guests discussed Trump’s most recent awkward and seemingly indefensible moments on the campaign trail, during which a veteran gave the presidential candidate his Purple Heart.

Trump told the crowd gathered to hear him, “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” and later said the medal given to him was acquired “much easier.”

Martin challenged NewsOne Now panelist Paris Dennard about his continued support of Trump after the candidate’s latest string of missteps. Dennard shrugged off Trump’s remarks and a conflicting series of statements about a crying baby in the audience as a number of “gaffes.”

Later during Martin’s intense questioning of Dennard about Trump’s ongoing string of lies, Attorney A. Scott Bolden questioned why we don’t label Donald Trump “Lying Donald Trump or Crooked Donald” for all the falsehoods he continues to spout.

According to Bolden, “The Republican Party is in a mess, leading Republicans and contributors are defecting.

“I wonder whether Donald Trump really does want to win because this is not gaffes, this is repeated problems with this candidate and he is unfit.”

Bolden continued, “In the general [election], you have to grow beyond that nineteen million [votes] and every one of these gaffes, every one of these problems, every one of these fights he’s picking with the party – as well as the Gold Star Family – is sending the independents and those undecided to Hillary Clinton.”

Watch Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now panel discuss Donald Trump’s latest string of troubling comments in the video clip above.

Watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

The Khans Address Battle With Donald Trump: ‘We Are On The Right Side Of The Times’</s>In a statement Friday making it official, the FBI announced Acting Deputy Director David Bowdich will permanently retain the position he has held on an interim basis since his predecessor’s ouster.

Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe was fired last month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions just over a day before he would have been eligible for his full pension.

Though McCabe had been a frequent target of ridicule by President Donald Trump, Sessions cited a yet-to-be-released inspector general’s report indicating that the high-ranking official improperly relayed information to reporters as the reason for his decision.

McCabe’s replacement had been associate deputy director prior the promotion to acting deputy director.

A formal announcement Friday by FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed widespread speculation that Bowdich would retain the position on a full-time basis.

The promotion marks the latest achievement in a career that included leading the bureau’s response to the deadly mass shooting at an office holiday party in San Bernardino, California, in 2015. Bowdich had earlier served on a tactical team and performed duties as a sniper.

With the announcement came a chain of open positions for which Wray also provided updates.

Bowdich’s old post will be filled by Paul Abbate, the official heretofore in charge of the bureau’s criminal and cyber investigations branch.

The position vacated by Abbate’s promotion will be filled by David Resch, who has been serving as an assistant director of training at the FBI’s Quantico academy in Virginia.

Wray also announced several other personnel changes, though most of the media attention related to McCabe’s replacement amid continued attacks on the FBI by Trump and many of his allies.

Trump has renewed his vitriol against former FBI Director James Comey in the wake of the released excerpts from the latter’s soon-to-be-released memoir.

The president has similarly belittled McCabe’s service at the bureau.

In light of that pattern, which included an executive tweet soon after Sessions’ decision, McCabe concluded he was fired for political reasons.

Trump tweeted that it was a “great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI” and “for Democracy” in reference to the decision to fire McCabe.

He also took the opportunity to again pile on his frequent foe and McCabe’s former superior.

“Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy,” Trump wrote. “He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!”

In a tweet late last year, Trump also referenced the pension McCabe came within hours of receiving.

“FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits,” he wrote. “90 days to go?!!!”

What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</s>Things haven't been easy in the White House as of late, and the president is definitely feeling the tension — and has gone on the attack. After excerpts from former FBI Director James Comey's memoir were released ahead of its April 17 publication date, the president decided to take to Twitter to do some "damage control" over the things that Comey said about him in his tell-all memoir. And Donald Trump's response to James Comey's book is pretty excessive — even for him.

Trump went on a Twitter rampage on April 15 ahead of both the release date of Comey's memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, which is set to hit bookstands on April 17. But before the book was released, excerpts from it were shared with the media for promotional purposes. And boy did those excerpts generate a massive buzz. The excerpts, which described Trump as dishonest and unethical were damning enough to get a rise out of the president. In return, Trump ripped into Comey's integrity and character — and even insinuated Comey's actions could lead to jail time. In one of several tweets, Trump said,

He prefaced it with,

Though Twitter attacks on Trump's enemies, either real or imagined, aren't exactly rare, if you read how Comey's described this administration, it's not hard to believe that the president would go off. Comey really ripped into Trump in the book, accusing him of demanding that Comey pledge loyalty to him and not of honoring the office of the President of the United States — or any government office for that matter. Comey described how Trump's White House operates in one of the excerpts from his book, which states,

Trump addressed this claim that he demands loyalty from everyone that works for him in one of the several of tweets that he posted on Sunday morning. The president said, "I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies." But this war of words between the former FBI director and the president is seriously heating up. In another excerpt from Comey's book, he refers to the president as "unethical and untethered to the truth." It reads,

Now that is what I call a royal burn. No wonder Trump decided to attack Comey. Clearly the former FBI director feels some type of way about the president, and has enough ammo in his arsenal to fill 304 pages with.

On May 10, 2017, Trump brazenly fired Comey from his post as the director of the FBI. The move was so dramatic that political pundits believed that Trump might even be impeached over the decision to remove Comey.

Why did the president do this? The answer to that question is not quite clear. The president claimed that he decided to fire Comey because of his mishandling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and the fact he wasn't doing "a good job." But the fact that at the time Comey was leading an investigation into whether or not Trump's presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government in order to sway the result of the 2016 election definitely raised some eyebrows, not to mention the fact that Trump later said he was thinking of "the Russia thing" when he fired Comey.

This isn't the first time that Trump has attacked Comey for his book, either. Just two days ago on April 13, Trump attacked Comey via Twitter, calling him a is a proven LEAKER & LIAR," among other things.

And who knows what the president might say next once the book is actually released. I don't think that Comey's publishers released all of the juicy bits from this book in the promotional excerpts. So I'm sure the best (or worst) is yet to come.</s>Former FBI director James Comey unleashes on Donald Trump in a televised interview, saying the US President is "morally unfit" for office and that he treats women like "pieces of meat".

Former FBI director James Comey has unleashed on Donald Trump in his latest television interview, describing the US President as someone who will "stain everyone around him".

Appearing on ABC News in America, Mr Comey said that was the challenge faced by the Trump administration.

"The question is, how much stain is too much stain and how much stain eventually makes you unable to accomplish your goal of protecting the country and serving the country?" he told anchor George Stephanopoulos.

He also said it was possible Russia was holding something over Mr Trump.

"I wish I wasn't saying it, but it's just — it's the truth."

Mr Comey's comments in the interview are almost certain to escalate his war of words with the president and further erode a relationship marked by open hostility and name-calling.

Hours before the interview aired, the president, who fired Mr Comey last year, unleashed a Twitter outburst that labeled Mr Comey "slippery," suggested he should be put in jail and branded him "the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!"

Mr Comey's televised remarks, coupled with the release of his forthcoming book, offer his version of events surrounding his firing and the investigations into Russian election meddling and Hillary Clinton's email practices.

Several of the episodes he describes in detail, including a private conversation about former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, are central to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and his recollections could be valuable for prosecutors examining whether the president's actions constitute obstruction of justice.

'Not fit to be president'

Mr Comey answered "possibly" when asked if the president was attempting to obstruct justice when he cleared the Oval Office of other officials last February before encouraging him to close the investigation into Flynn, who by that point was suspected of lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts.

The retired general pleaded guilty last December and is now cooperating with Mueller's investigation.

Mr Comey also said he believed Mr Trump was "morally unfit" to be president and that he treated women like "pieces of meat".

"A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it — that person's not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds," he said.

Mr Comey is currently promoting his new tell-all book, A Higher Loyalty, which is reportedly very critical of Mr Trump.

In the book, due to be released later this week, Mr Comey compares Mr Trump to a mafia don and calls his leadership of the country, "ego driven and about personal loyalty".

In an excerpt shown on Saturday, Mr Comey said his belief Mrs Clinton would beat Mr Trump in the 2016 presidential election was a factor in his decision to disclose the investigation into her emails.

Mr Trump seized on that, saying Mr Comey, "was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!"

He also suggested Mr Comey should be imprisoned, saying: "How come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail)."

There is no indication Mr Comey is under investigation for doing either.</s>(CNN) Former FBI Director James Comey said that although Donald Trump is "morally unfit" to be president, it's not grounds to be removed from office through the impeachment process.

When asked in an exclusive interview with ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos if he believes Trump should be impeached, Comey answered, "I hope not."

He went on to say, "Because I think impeaching and removing Donald Trump from office would let the American people off the hook and have something happen indirectly that I believe they're duty bound to do directly."

"People in this country need to stand up and go to the voting booth and vote their values," Comey said. "And so impeachment, in a way, would short circuit that."

Comey sat down with Stephanopoulos for his first television interview since being fired by Trump last year to promote his upcoming book, "A Higher Loyalty."

Read More</s>UPDATE (WKOW) -- Former FBI Director James Comey says he thinks Donald Trump is morally unfit to be president.

In an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday night, Comey says he doesn't think Trump is medically unfit, dismissing those who question his mental state.

Instead, Comey says he believes that Trump is morally unfit for what he calls treating women "like pieces of meat," lying constantly about matters big and small and insisting that people believe it, and seeing a moral equivalence of demonstrators and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Comey says that in his view a president must embody respect and adhere to the nation's core values, the most important being truth. He concludes that Trump "is not able to do that" and is "morally unfit to be president."



UPDATE (WKOW) -- Former FBI Director James Comey says he thinks there's "certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice" in the actions of President Donald Trump.

Comey answered "possibly" when asked in an ABC News interview whether the president was attempting to obstruct justice when he asked Comey to end an FBI investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump has denied that conversation, but Comey insisted that it definitely occurred.

He says there's "certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice," though he notes that he's just a witness in the case and not an investigator or prosecutor.

Comey is promoting a new book - and incurring Trump's wrath as he does. The president has called him a "liar and a leaker."

UPDATE (WKOW) -- Former FBI Director James Comey says he thinks it's possible that President Donald Trump might be compromised by the Russians.

In an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday night, the fired FBI chief says he could not discount the possibility that Russia might have something on the president.

He says he knows that's a "stunning" possibility and something that he never thought he'd say about a president of the United States.

Still, he says it strikes him as unlikely but something that he can't say without high confidence.

MADISON (WKOW) -- For the first time since his abrupt firing by President Donald Trump, James Comey sits down with George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive interview Sunday night.

The Associated Press also reports that the president is again calling the former FBI director a "slime ball" ahead of the publication of his new book.

The morning tweet comes ahead of Comey's interview with ABC to be broadcast in full on Sunday evening.

In an excerpt shown Saturday, Comey says his belief that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 presidential election was a factor in his decision to disclose the investigation into her emails.

In his tweet, Trump says: "Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slime ball!"

On Friday, President Donald Trump said former FBI Director James Comey "is an 'untruthful slime ball who should be prosecuted for leaking classified information." The president also tweeted: "It was my great honor to fire him."</s>Washington, US: Fired former FBI chief James Comey lashed out at Donald Trump in an interview with ABC broadcast on Sunday, calling him “morally unfit” to be president and describing him as a serial liar who will “stain everyone around him.”

Comey’s remarks are the latest salvo in a war of words with Trump, who excoriated the former FBI director on Twitter earlier in the day, again calling him a “slimeball” and suggesting he should be jailed.

The wide-ranging interview with ABC News also came ahead of Tuesday’s release of Comey’s memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, in which he details his interactions with the Republican president.

“I think he’s morally unfit to be president,” Comey said, in his first televised interview since being fired in May last year.

The former federal prosecutor pointed to how Trump “talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat” and “lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it.”

Comey also said that serving in Trump’s administration poses a serious ethical dilemma.

“The challenge of this president is that he will stain everyone around him,” he told ABC. “And the question is, how much stain is too much stain and how much stain eventually makes you unable to accomplish your goal of protecting the country and serving the country?”

In the book, Comey likens Trump to a dishonest, ego-driven mob boss and says he demanded the then FBI chief’s personal pledge of loyalty—a damning account that has infuriated the president at a moment of intensifying legal pressure on other fronts.

“I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His ‘memos’ are self serving and FAKE!” Trump said in a tweetstorm fired off on Sunday before the interview.

The president said he “stupidly” handled a probe into Trump’s 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton and how she used a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

In another tweet, the president offered a mini-review of Comey’s memoir.

“The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?”

The jumble of references appeared to allude to unsubstantiated accusations Trump has previously made claiming Comey lied in Senate testimony last May in denying he had served as an anonymous news source.

“Look, it’s been very clear that James Comey is a self-admitted leaker. He lied to Congress,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

In the interview, Comey said he was unsure whether or not the Russians have compromising material that could be used to blackmail Trump—either relating to his pre-election personal conduct, or his campaign’s actions. “I think it’s possible. I don’t know. These are more words I never thought I’d utter about a president of the United States, but it’s possible,” he said.

And Comey said the president may have obstructed justice when he asked him to drop an investigation into former national security advisor (NSA) Michael Flynn. “Possibly. I mean, it’s certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice,” Comey said. “It would depend upon other things that reflected on his intent.”

Trump and his aides have countered Comey’s media blitz by attacking his handling of the probe into Clinton’s emails.

Comey acknowledged in the ABC interview that his belief that Clinton would be elected president “was a factor” in his decision to reopen the email probe 11 days before the US election, a development that Clinton blames for her surprise defeat.

“I don’t remember spelling it out, but it had to have been, that she’s going to be elected president and if I hide this from the American people, she’ll be illegitimate the moment she’s elected, the moment this comes out,” Comey said.

“Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe,” Trump said. “In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!” he wrote.</s>Former FBI Director James Comey said that President Donald Trump is “morally unfit to be president” and “lies constantly about matters big and small” in a scathing new interview.

On a publicity tour for his forthcoming book, “A Higher Loyalty,” on Sunday night Comey was interviewed on ABC by George Stephanopoulos, the former FBI director’s first interview since being fired by Trump.

In the interview, Comey said Trump is “not fit to be president of the United States,” but does not support impeachment.

“I think impeaching and removing Donald Trump from office would let the American people off the hook and have something happen indirectly that I believe they're duty bound to do directly,” Comey said. “People in this country need to stand up and go to the voting booth and vote their values.”

The interview covered many previously-reported details, including demands for loyalty, a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office and the much-disputed memos Comey wrote after interactions with the president.

“A Higher Loyalty” will be released on Tuesday, and Comey’s media tour continues throughout the week with appearances on “Good Morning America,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “The View” and other outlets.

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Former FBI Director James Comey doesn’t believe Donald Trump should be impeached, despite saying that he’s “morally unfit” to be president.