Note what was missing here: any defense of Trump’s conduct. DeSantis made similar remarks at a rally on Sunday for Kari Lake and Blake Masters, the Republican nominees for governor and Senate in Arizona — criticizing the Justice Department and raising examples of what he characterized as F.B.I. misconduct, while remaining silent on the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents…

Some might say the politically savvy course of action for Republicans would be to choose the fourth option from the menu above: Say nothing.

That’s what Charlie Dent, a former member of Congress from Pennsylvania, suggested his fellow Republicans ought to have done as the news emerged that federal agents had searched Trump’s home.

“At a time like this, my advice to G.O.P. members would be to show restraint and be circumspect in their public comments,” said Dent, who retired in 2018 rather than face re-election after becoming one of the more reliable critics of Trump’s conduct as president.

“With Trump,” Dent added, “there’s always more to the story — and it’s usually not very good.”