THE DEMOCRATS’ BIG PROBLEM: The claims that Trump and his allies make about the FBI’s history of political retaliation, however cynically lodged, ring uncomfortably true.

For the most part, this includes President Trump himself, Republican lawmakers aligned with him, and conservative media, but it also includes (for example) the left-wing journalist Glenn Greenwald. Their critique is built, with a range of sincerity, on an argument about the FBI being untrustworthy, scheming, and prone to exacting revenge on political opponents. The critique draws its force from the fact that this has, in fact, historically been true of the Bureau.

To be trusted, be trustworthy.