IT’S COME TO THIS: New York Times: Videos Put Democrats on Defensive About Dirty Tricks.

A Democratic operative, wearing a checkered blue shirt and a tie, spoke calmly, explaining exactly how agents could infiltrate the rallies of Donald J. Trump and cause mayhem among the Republican’s nominee team, his security staff and supporters.

Creating an explosive reaction, said the operative, Scott Foval, was “the whole point of it.”

Mr. Foval and Robert Creamer, another operative working for the Democratic National Committee, were the unwitting stars of undercover videos released this week in which they and others were captured discussing unseemly tactics like instigating violence at Mr. Trump’s rallies and arranging for fraudulent voting.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the party committee moved to distance themselves from the behavior described in the videos, and the committee said the two men were no longer assisting it. . . .

Still, the videos were an embarrassment for Mrs. Clinton at a moment when she is trying to frame Mr. Trump’s claims of a rigged election as nothing more than the fevered dreams of a conspiracy theorist. During Wednesday’s debate Mr. Trump referred to the videos, which together have been viewed more than eight million times on YouTube, as proof of unfair play.

And just months after the Democratic chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was forced out of her post after hacked emails revealed party officials discussing how to damage Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential bid, the Clinton campaign was again forced on the defensive because of the actions of the party.

Campaign finance records show that the Democratic committee made two payments, one in July and another in August, totaling about $64,000 to Mobilize Inc., a Chicago-based firm connected to Mr. Creamer, for “communications consulting.” . . .

Both men and others in the videos are seen discussing — or at least nodding along when their undercover interviewers broach the idea — how people could illegally vote. Among the practices described are moving voters across state lines by using cars with the destination state’s plates, and using pay stubs to make illegal immigrants appear to be citizens for voter registration purposes.

Politics, the Chicago way.