The top White House ethics lawyer under President Obama said he believes former FBI Director James Comey could sue President Trump for libel.
The comments come as the president continues to lash out at Comey after the former FBI director denounced Trump during a scathing interview with ABC News.
“This false, malicious accusation of criminal conduct is libel per se by Trump. @Comey could sue—& might win,” Norm Eisen tweeted Monday.
“Despite absolute official immunity, open legal question whether defamation using personal Twitter may be outside its scope. See Nixon v Fitzgerald.”
Trump has been going on the attack against Comey in the run up to the release of Comey’s memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” on Tuesday
On Monday, Trump tweeted that Comey drafted an exoneration of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton before he spoke with her in the investigation into her use of a private email server while secretary of State. He also accused Comey of committing many crimes.
“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 the others, committed many crimes!” Trump tweeted.
Trump has repeatedly accused Comey of lying to Congress during the former FBI director’s dramatic testimony last year, when he detailed meetings in which the president allegedly asked for his loyalty and requested that he “let it go” in reference to an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Over the weekend, the president referred to Comey as a “slimeball” and said he will go down as the worst FBI director in history.
During the interview that aired Sunday on ABC News’s “20/20,” Comey said he thinks it is possible Trump is compromised by Russia.
He also said there is “certainly some evidence” Trump obstructed justice when asked about the investigation into Flynn.