The revelations about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s disingenuous applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in its 2016 Crossfire Hurricane operation come as little surprise to long-time watchers of the Bureau.

Forty-seven years after J. Edgar Hoover died, the American people are still living with traces from the culture of impunity he instilled in the Bureau. One would like to think the sensitivity of the FBI’s 2016 campaign investigation would have spurred Bureau agents and executives to conduct a blemish-free probe, knowing that every step might someday be subject to intense scrutiny. Yet the Bureau’s history is replete with abuses, some of the worst occurring when the stakes were highest.

Three examples suffice to illustrate the point.