A tainted memo

The rush to release a controversial memo maligning federal investigators has President Trump on a collision course with the FBI. That’s nothing new: Trump has already forced out an FBI director and, for good measure, a deputy director. What is novel — and telling — is that Trump is now at odds with the G-man he chose.

A former federal prosecutor and Justice Department official, Christopher Wray is a man of “impeccable credentials,” as Trump pointed out after personally interviewing him and nominating him to serve as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation — a nomination that the Senate would confirm 92-5. Wray’s Republican credentials are also in order: He was an assistant attorney general under George W. Bush and, in private practice, represented sometime Trump factotum and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Following Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, a microphone caught him telling a congressman that he would “100 percent” approve declassifying the memo even though he had not yet reviewed it. Compiled by the staff of Rep. Devin Nunes, the Central Valley Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee and avidly runs interference for the White House, the memo seeks to raise doubts about the federal investigation of the Trump campaign’s relationship with the Russian government.

But an FBI statement Wednesday expressed “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.” The FBI Agents Association issued a statement offering rankand-file support for Wray on Thursday.

Trump’s continuing conflict with the bureau regardless of its leadership shows his fight isn’t so much with any particular official as it is with law enforcement itself.