Republican politicians and the conservative media are increasingly embracing wild conspiracy theories. This is both unwise and counterproductive. And in this case, it’s obscuring serious questions about the government’s handling of the investigations into both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Thus far we’ve seen only a fraction of the text messages between Page and Strzok. But what we’ve seen should bother anyone interested in the rule of law. There’s disturbing evidence that senior FBI officials may have allowed their deep disdain for Trump to influence the manner in which they carried out their public service. Strzok worked on the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s email server and, later, on the Robert Mueller investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 election. Several of their exchanges appear to suggest Strzok’s willingness to use his position for political ends.