At about 8 p.m. on a recent Friday night Vancouver’s Don Benton left his office at the Selective Service in Washington, D.C., where President Donald Trump put him in charge of overseeing the military draft, and headed toward the Metro.

It’s been months since the notorious firebrand has returned a phone call from The Columbian. But on that Friday night, he pulled out his phone.

The former Washington state senator started out the conversation in classic Benton fashion, slightly combative.

“I’m no longer an elected official, so there is a different set of rules (for) malicious intent,” he said, implying it would be easier to sue a reporter for libel.

As he talked, the noise of the subway was audible in the background.

Later he softened.

He’s sick of the narrative, he said.

“Try to be positive about a guy who has given 30 years of his life to service,” he urged.