How are they doing at the FBI? It can’t be easy.

In the 109 years of the FBI’s existence, it has repeatedly come under fire for abuses of power, privacy or civil rights. From Red Scares to recording and threatening to expose the private conduct of Martin Luther King Jr. to benefiting from bulk surveillance in the digital age, the FBI is accustomed to intense criticism.

What is so unusual about the current moment, say current and former law enforcement officials, is the source of the attacks.

The bureau is under fire not from those on the left but rather conservatives who have long been the agency’s biggest supporters, as well as the president who handpicked the FBI’s leader.

Republican critics charge that the birth of the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and agents of the Russian government was fatally infected by the political bias of senior FBI officials — and President Trump tweeted Saturday that the release of a memo on the issue “totally vindicates ‘Trump.’ ”

But what if it’s not “political bias” but rather “bias” against a president who is in bed with Russia?

And/or – what if it’s “bias” against ignorant lazy talentless incompetence from a bunch of people who, whatever you think about the institution, have impressive skills?

KnowwhatImean? That’s an aspect of Trump that’s got to grate on a lot of people who do serious demanding work. He’s such an empty balloon. He has no talents, no skills, no training, no knowledge, no expertise – he’s all flash and marketing and nothing else. He’s a big meaningless noise, and here he is shouting at and accusing people who are – let’s be clear about this – Better Than He Is. He likes to rant about “merit” but that’s ironic when he himself has none.

One law enforcement official summed it up bluntly: “There’s a lot of anger. The irony is it’s a conservative-leaning organization, and it’s being trashed by conservatives. At first it was just perplexing. Now there’s anger, because it’s not going away.”

It turns out they’re not really conservatives. They’re opportunists/street fighters.