That kind of selflessness and dedication is clearly not what Republicans are criticizing.

What Republicans are condemning is the FBI leadership’s conduct in the Trump campaign and Clinton email probes. For example, in the case of the much-discussed House Intelligence Committee memo released last week, Republicans (accurately) portrayed an FBI leadership that made common cause with an opposition research project paid for by the Clinton campaign right in the middle of a 2016 presidential election — and then ferociously resisted congressional oversight. An agency that does that can expect some criticism, if its actions ever come to light.

“It’s quite obvious that the Intelligence Committee is only questioning the decisions made by a small number of FBI officials at the highest levels,” said committee spokesman Jack Langer. “In fact, we’ve been hearing from a large number of FBI employees, both active and retired, who have asked us to continue the oversight work we’re doing.”