The flap over the White House travel office is serious if the White House staff tried to oust career employees without just cause. It is serious if the White House staff suggested criminal transgressions when there was no evidence of that. It appears both those things happened, but the full story is not known. At this point, we suggest reserving judgment.
But the full story -- or at least enough of it -- is known concerning the White House staff's improper use of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this affair, and that is very serious indeed. The FBI and the Justice Department have suffered from political manipulation under several previous presidents. The American people have always been fearful of a law enforcement agency like the FBI being given political chores.
Just last week, the nominee for deputy attorney general, Philip Heymann, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that to avoid compromising the Justice Department, the Clinton White House had established a system under which the only contacts with the department or its components, like the FBI, would be by the White House counsel's office to one of the top three Justice officials -- the attorney general, the deputy A.G. or the associate A.G.