By the time ABC aired an hourlong interview with James B. Comey on Sunday night, his feelings on President Trump were clear: that he was volatile, immoral, fixated on allegations made against him, akin to a mob boss.
When excerpts from Mr. Comey’s forthcoming memoir emerged last week, Mr. Trump pounced, labeling Mr. Comey “weak” and an “untruthful slime ball.” He later suggested Mr. Comey deserved jail time.
The disclosures in the book, many of which were amplified in extraordinary detail in Sunday’s interview, were a stunning assault on a sitting president by a former high-ranking law enforcement official.
The ABC interview, conducted by the anchor George Stephanopoulos and filmed at Mr. Comey’s Virginia home, was the first major interview the former F.B.I. director has granted since his firing last May.
The book, which is to be released on Tuesday, has remained atop Amazon’s best-seller list for weeks, and the interview was the beginning of an extensive media and speaking tour.
Here are five notable moments from Sunday’s program.
Mr. Comey thinks a meeting he had with Mr. Trump could be evidence of obstruction of justice.
Mr. Comey says that Mr. Trump asked him to drop the F.B.I.’s investigation of Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, after a White House meeting with Mr. Trump and other senior officials. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Comey says, the president asked everyone in the room to clear out, save for Mr. Comey.
The request, Mr. Comey recalled in the interview, was too brazen to be spontaneous.
“Why am I alone if he doesn’t know the nature of the request?” Mr. Comey said.
Mr. Stephanopoulos pointed out that Mr. Trump denied he had made the request.
“Yeah, well, what am I going to do? He did,” Mr. Comey said flatly.
Mr. Stephanopoulos asked if that scene in the White House constituted obstruction of justice.
“Possibly,” Mr. Comey said. “I mean, it’s certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice.”
