The GOP is ruthless

Can Democrats toughen up?

A donkey and an elephant.
(Image credit: Illustrated | BirdHunter591/iStock, Asya_mix/iStock, Eriklam/iStock)

The last two days have given us an instructive glimpse of what American politics has become in the Trump era — and in particular of the stylistic and strategic gulf that now separates the country's two main parties.

On Monday, the Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his report on the use of surveillance powers by the FBI in the Russia investigation that ensnared the Trump campaign and administration. The report concluded that, although there were missteps in the investigation, the FBI displayed no bias in initiating the counter-intelligence probe. Democrats and anti-Trump conservatives praised the findings, calling them a vindication of federal law enforcement as well as a demonstration that the government can investigate itself fairly and rigorously.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.