But given the growing partisan divide and deepening distrust of our national institutions, they should possess a bit more self-awareness and restraint than they are displaying here. If Trump is conforming to Resistance expectations of Putin perfidy, these tweets are straight out of the MAGA imagination of “deep state” resistance — no pun intended — if not a conspiracy against the president.

This is especially true of Comey, whose actions post-firing helped precipitate the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Trump-Russia probe — and whose decisions in the Hillary Clinton investigation both parties rightly questioned…

Not only does it play right into Trump’s hands as he tries to dismiss the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt” and the handiwork of “13 angry Democrats.” It arouses the suspicions of millions of Americans that this is a partisan pursuit from the very start, originating under these same officials under an administration of a different party, further undermining trust in the investigators’ work.