In another era, Ohr’s interactions with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the infamous Trump-Russia document, would have been uncontroversial. “Having those kinds of liaison relationships is a normal part of the work he and I did together,” said Eugene Casey, who worked closely with Ohr in 2005 and 2006 as then-chief of the F.B.I.’s Eurasian organized crime unit. “For him to be reprimanded for having those types of relationships seemed, to me, absurd. Just absurd.” Of course, the conspiracy theories surrounding Ohr are not limited to his work with Steele. In another hallmark of the Trump era, Ohr has also been targeted in conservative media for his wife’s work with Fusion GPS, the political intelligence firm that contracted with Steele. In the last month, 5 of Trump’s 13 tweets about Ohr have also referenced his wife, Nellie. “Bruce & Nelly Ohr’s bank account is getting fatter & fatter because of the Dossier that they are both peddling,” he wrote in one. At another point, he told reporters outside the White House that Ohr’s security clearance should be rescinded. “I suspect I’ll be taking it away very quickly,” he said. “For him to be in the Justice Department, and to be doing what he did—that is a disgrace.”

For an official like Ohr, losing one’s security clearance is tantamount to professional castration. “What is happening to Mr. Ohr is so upsetting to some of us, because if his security clearance is arbitrarily removed, it is as if he is being fired,” Casey added. “If he did violate some D.O.J. procedure that I am not aware of—he may very well have done so—[that] is a matter for the Office of the Inspector General of [the] D.O.J. to look into, not a political matter . . . The president calls him a disgrace, and I would like to know: what is the basis for that? Because I don’t see it.”

Another irony: if Trump ultimately follows through on his threats, the impact on the Russia probe would be negligible. “If he strips Bruce Ohr of his clearance and he can no longer work on an investigation, then the next person in line steps in. The Department of Justice is a Hydra. The entire government bureaucracy is not about individuals; they do not make or break an investigation. There is always someone that then steps into those shoes and continues it. I think the firing of James Comey is the ultimate example of that,” Asha Rangappa, a former F.B.I. counter-intelligence agent, explained. “[Trump] is going to keep trying to cut off these heads. It is one thing to do it for former officials who really don’t have any ongoing involvement, but for an active investigation . . . He doesn’t seem to understand that the wheels of justice are turning, and that even as the president of the United States, there is very little that he can do to stop it.”

On the other end of downtown Washington, across the National Mall in Foggy Bottom, the president’s attacks on Ohr and his Justice Department colleagues have sent a clear signal to the diplomatic corps. “Targeting people and going after them—potentially with the consequence of taking from them their livelihood—that is very, very serious stuff,” one State Department official told me. ”I know it has been on everybody’s mind, and it is by design.” A second State Department official echoed the sentiment. “I think these actions only further confirm the politicized approach this administration takes towards civil servants. It certainly has a chilling effect on those of us who might engage in political activities that are consistent with the Hatch Act,” they told me, referencing the 1939 law that constrains the political activity of federal employees.