Seemingly lost on Mr. Strzok and the oversight committees is a higher principle worth fighting for. You see, the FBI is more than an institution or an agency. It is an ideal of trust and fairness. It would be hard to name another agency more vital to the health of the Republic. It is the FBI that most directly preserves from corruption, on a daily basis, the underpinnings of democratic processes and protects the citizenry from abuse by those to whom it has granted authority.

If the FBI, through the careless words and actions of a few of its executives, even appears to be less than impartial or objective, then the country suffers a profound loss. To whom does the nation turn if the agency charged to conduct investigations — unperturbed by cultural, political or moneyed interests — becomes commonly perceived as subject to manipulation? For all of our sakes, the FBI, as an ideal, must be protected.