Republican leaders’ open defiance last week of the FBI over the release of a hotly disputed memo revealed how the GOP, which has long positioned itself as the party of law and order, has become an adversary of federal law enforcement as the party continues its quest to protect President Trump from the Russia investigation.

The FBI, the Justice Department and other agencies are now under concerted assault by Republicans, facing allegations of corruption and conspiracy that have quickly moved from the fringes of the right into the mainstream of the GOP.

Republicans in Congress insist that their efforts are meant to fulfill their duty to provide oversight of the executive branch and root out suspected bias. But critics say their campaign — to “cleanse” the FBI, in the words of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — has been clearly orchestrated to safeguard the president and undercut the Russia probe, which includes an examination of whether Trump or his associates have sought to obstruct justice.

“It’s an extraordinary moment,” said Steve Schmidt, a strategist on George W. Bush’s and John McCain’s presidential campaigns who opposes Trump. “The party has become completely unmoored from things that it held as close to sacred until very recently, including a fidelity to the country’s security institutions.”

The GOP offensive has raised doubts among millions of Americans about the independence and integrity of federal law enforcement agencies, which have not been caught in a political maelstrom of this magnitude since the Watergate scandal almost five decades ago.

Tensions reached a boil this week when Trump approved the publication of the then-classified memo, which was authored by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee chaired by Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), one of the president’s most loyal allies. The release came despite intense opposition from law enforcement and intelligence officials, who said that the document was full of errors and omissions and that disclosing it was “extraordinarily reckless” to national security.

The memo alleges that senior FBI and Justice officials abused their power and used a contested dossier on Trump to secure a warrant from a foreign-intelligence court to wiretap Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.

[Release of disputed GOP memo on FBI surveillance unleashes waves of recrimination]

The president claimed Saturday on Twitter that “this memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on . . . This is an American disgrace!”

The FBI, Democrats and some Republicans expressed alarm following days of unsuccessful appeals to Trump and Ryan to halt the release of a memo they say is incomplete and deeply misleading — and that they say sets a dangerous precedent.

The document is part of long-standing efforts by Trump to influence or derail the Russia probe, including his firing in the spring of FBI Director James B. Comey; his abandoned order in the summer to get rid of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III; and his continued consideration behind the scenes of removing others including Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who has ultimate authority over the investigation. Trump has told advisers in recent days that he was hopeful the memo’s release would pave the way for further shake-ups at Justice, including the firing of Rosenstein.

Confidence in the FBI has simultaneously declined among Republican voters. A Gallup survey in December 2017 found that 49 percent of Republicans thought the FBI was doing an “excellent” or “good” job, down from 62 percent in 2014. Among Democrats, 69 percent approved of the FBI’s performance, up from 60 percent in 2014.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) prepares with his staff for a press conference on Capitol Hill as the government shutdown loomed on Jan. 18. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

[‘Never any hesitation’: Trump was quickly persuaded to support memo’s release]

Most striking to some Republicans has been the conduct of Ryan, who is widely respected within the party and casts himself as a pillar of traditional conservatism.

While Ryan has maintained that Mueller’s investigation should continue on its course, he has strongly supported Nunes and questioned whether civil liberties were violated. Addressing the Nunes memo, Ryan told a small gathering of television anchors this week, “Let it all out, get it all out there. Cleanse the organization,” according to Fox News. The speaker added, “I think we should disclose all this stuff. It’s the best disinfectant.”

On Friday, shortly after the document was declassified, Ryan said he was “glad” — although he cautioned his party in a statement to “not use this memo to impugn the integrity of the justice system.”

Ryan’s approach reflects much of the GOP leadership in Congress, which has labored to assure conservative hard-liners like Gaetz that their grievances about the FBI are being heard.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has had little to say about the House memo, other than to tell reporters he thinks Ryan is “handling this just right.”

Only a few elected Republicans have spoken negatively about the memo’s release. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate leadership, said Nunes should have shared it first with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and incorporated the concerns of FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. Sens. McCain and Jeff Flake, Arizona Republicans who have been critical of Trump, both opposed making the document public.

“If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s job for him,” McCain said in a statement Friday.

Mark Salter, a longtime McCain confidant and adviser, said the GOP has largely reached a stage “where nothing is more important than politics — everything is tribal, about winning.”

Republicans have clashed with federal law enforcement agencies before, particularly under Democratic presidents, from the FBI’s 1993 siege of a religious group’s compound in Waco, Tex., to an uproar during President Barack Obama’s first term over a firearms sting operation dubbed “Fast and Furious.”

The recent, more expansive GOP distrust can be traced back to the 2016 campaign. Giuliani recalls traveling with Trump and together grousing about Comey and then-attorney general Loretta E. Lynch, among others, whom they saw as unfairly sympathetic to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee who was under FBI investigation for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

“I still don’t know how the hell she got away with it,” Giuliani said. “She was treated extraordinarily by Jim Comey and the FBI. At least, that was my impression.”

The perception of bias was fueled by media commentary on the right, including on Fox News, and a series of incidents that provided fodder to partisans, such as Lynch’s private meeting with former president Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac in Phoenix.

“This has all been building for a while,” said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee with deep ties to law enforcement. “You go back to 2016, there were serious errors made by certain people in the FBI and at Justice. Lynch on the tarmac, Comey deciding to not prosecute Hillary, and we still don’t have the full story of what happened that October.”

The upheaval over the memo comes amid an emerging power shift in the party that is tilting the GOP toward skepticism: Libertarian-leaning Republicans averse to expanding U.S. warrantless surveillance programs are increasingly vocal and winning converts.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have established themselves as leaders of the bloc, as other players on the right have embraced WikiLeaks and groups that have argued for dismantling what some Trump supporters call “the deep state,” a conspiratorial reference to the intelligence community and law enforcement as entrenched actors with self-interested motives.

Trump has encouraged that perspective even as he has formally supported a bill to expand surveillance powers, tweeting inaccurately and without evidence about being wiretapped by the Obama administration. In January, a measure to scale back surveillance powers was defeated in the House, although 58 Republicans joined 125 Democrats in supporting it.

At the center of this week’s eruption over declassifying the Nunes document has been a group of about 70 House members who have been rallying to “release the memo” during closed Republican conference meetings and on social media. They also have been speaking to talk radio and conservative websites with fierce criticism of Rosenstein, Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, among others.

[Rod J. Rosenstein, Justice Department official overseeing Mueller and Russia probe, under increasing pressure]

GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who is close with party leaders, explained the dynamic: “An average Republican voter’s inclination is to trust law and order. If the police say they’re guilty, a Republican assumes they are . . . But because so much of life has been politicized, you have this crosscurrent of an internal desire to support these institutions and the feeling that the people who occupy them are not doing their jobs correctly.”

Schmidt had a less charitable explanation, citing a list of conspiratorial beliefs that have been taken up over the years by the far right.

“It represents the mainstreaming of a strain of conservatism that comes from a place of paranoia and conspiracy,” Schmidt said. Many Republican leaders, he argued, “are now the equivalent of the Lyndon LaRouche people in the parking lot of the supermarket handing out fliers shouting conspiracies.”

Among Democrats, there is unease about the GOP’s turn, as well as lingering concerns of their own.

Many Clinton supporters continue to believe the FBI improperly handled her probe and blame Comey’s late October 2016 letter to Congress reopening the email investigation for her loss.

Lanny J. Davis, a longtime member of Clinton’s political orbit, is publishing a book on Tuesday titled, “The Unmaking of the President 2016: How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the presidency.”

The headline for Davis’s column in The Hill newspaper this week: “Deep state existed in ’16 — but it elected Trump.”

Scott Clement contributed to this report.

An Amtrak train en route from New York to Miami collided with a CSX freight train and derailed near Columbia, S.C., leaving two dead and 116 injured, police and Amtrak officials said.

The crash occurred at 2:35 a.m. in Cayce, S.C., causing the lead engine and “some passenger cars” to derail, Amtrak said in a statement. There were eight crew members and approximately 139 passengers, Amtrak said.

The two people killed were Amtrak employees, according to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R). The CSX freight train was empty, he said.

Derrec Becker of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said injuries reported include minor cuts as well as broken bones, and he said all passengers had been removed from the train. Lexington County spokesman Harrison Cahill said passengers who were hurt were taken to local hospitals, but none had life-threatening injuries.

There were two leaks from the train, spilling an estimated 5,000 gallons of fuel, but there was “no threat to the public at this time,” Cahill said at a news conference. He said the cause of the crash was not known, and CSX and the National Transportation Safety Board had been called to investigate. He later said that it was unclear from where the fuel had leaked.

We’re getting new images from the train crash in Lexington County.
Source: @LPinderTV pic.twitter.com/znvyh1ZGqQ

— Michal Higdon (@MichalHigdon) February 4, 2018

Whitney Sullivan, a reporter for WLTX-TV, reported that deputies said no residents in the area were evacuated.

The Transportation Department said the Federal Railroad Administration, which has safety oversight over Amtrak and freight rail, said its investigators were on site.

NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said on “Fox Friends” that “one of our priorities” is to recover data recorders to determine “the speed of the Amtrak train at the point of collision.”

Passenger Derek Pettaway said he woke with a jolt when the collision happened, suffering minor whiplash. He had taken shelter with other passengers at the nearby Pine Ridge Middle School, where authorities were providing medical care. “No one was panicking. I think most people were asleep. I think people were more in shock,” Pettaway said in an interview with CNN.

The White House press pool was told that President Trump had been briefed on the situation and was receiving regular updates. Deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said Trump’s thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was affected. Other officials also offered statements of support. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said his “prayers are with the families of those killed.”

My prayers are with the families of those killed in the train crash in Lexington County this morning, and hoping for the best for all those injured. South Carolina is with you all! https://t.co/yYJzgc2vp3

— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) February 4, 2018

The incident comes less than a week after an Amtrak train carrying GOP lawmakers to a retreat in West Virginia collided with a garbage truck. One person in the truck was killed.

In December, an Amtrak train in Washington state derailed while crossing an overpass, spilling cars onto a busy highway and killing three people.

Doris N. Truong contributed to this report.

Hang on to your warm furry hats.

Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most celebrated groundhog, gazed at the ground and beheld his shadow Friday morning. This means six more weeks of frigid winter if you trust the weather forecasting skills of this oversized rodent.

Had the mangy marmot not spotted his shadow, it would have signaled spring is around the corner, folklore assures.

[The truth about Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil is 131-year-old fake news]

The groundhog crawled out of his hole to issue his prediction just before 7:25 a.m. as the sun rose at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa. How he managed to see his shadow with clouds blocking the sun is a bit of a mystery. Thousands of merry witnesses watched the spectacle, unfazed by the biting wind, blowing snow and bone-chilling temperatures in the teens.

Since his first prediction in 1887, Phil has spotted his shadow 104 times, counting this year, while it has eluded him on just 18 occasions. Ten years are missing from the record, but Phil has issued forecasts without exception.

If this winter endures well into March as Phil predicts, it will be remembered for the intensity and duration of cold weather. The brutal Arctic blast in the eastern U.S. between Christmas and the first week of the new year may most stand out, culminating in the “bomb cyclone” at the coast. In many areas, it was the most frigid stretch of weather surrounding New Year’s in recorded history.

Where the two weeks surrounding the New Year rank on the cold scale. (Southeast Regional Climate Center, modified by Ian Livingston)

The groundhog’s prognostication is supported by forecasters endowed with somewhat larger brains; that is, actual meteorologists. The prediction from AccuWeather, the private forecasting company based in State College, Pa., is also calling for winter to persist another six weeks.

“Boston to New York City and Philadelphia may see snow a few more times before the end of the season,” says AccuWeather long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok.

The National Weather Service also suggests winter is far from done in the northern and northeastern United States, where it favors colder-than-normal weather in February. It does lean toward abnormally mild weather in the West, so perhaps Phil is wrong about extended winter in that part of the country.

National Weather Service temperature 30-day temperature outlook for February. In areas shaded in blue, it leans toward colder than normal weather. In areas shades in orange, it favors warmer than normal weather. (National Weather Service)

Last year, Phil predicted six more weeks of winter and spring arrived as early as it has in memory. Flower stems sprouted in Chicago in late February and nearly all the ice on the Great Lakes melted away. It turned into the second-warmest February and ninth-warmest March on record for the Lower 48.

But Phil should be credited for making the correct call in 2016 when he predicted an early spring. That year there was a super El Niño, a warming of tropical Pacific Ocean waters, that pumped up temperatures over much of the country.

Over the long haul, few can agree on the groundhog’s accuracy.

Phil’s official website claims he has “of course” issued a correct forecast 100 percent of the time. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notes that Phil’s forecasts have shown “no predictive skill”.

AccuWeather finds the rodent has an 80 percent accuracy rate. But the StormFax Almanac reports that Phil has been right a lowly 39 percent of the time.

The origins of Groundhog Day are traced back to the 1700s when German settlers arrived in the United States, bringing a tradition known as Candlemas Day, a celebration of the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox. About a century later, it was reimagined as Groundhog Day. “According to superstition, sunny skies that day signify a stormy and cold second half of winter while cloudy skies indicate the arrival of warm weather,” explains NOAA’s website.

In essence, one can now think of Feb. 2 as a winter halftime show starring Phil and his forecast.

But Phil doesn’t own the stage. Groundhog Day-like festivities are held in several regions of North America where other beloved marmots make their predictions, including:

• Georgia: General Beau Lee
• Ohio: Buckeye Chuck
• Ontario: Wiarton Willie
• Raleigh: Sir Walter Wally
• Sun Prairie, Wis.: Jimmy
• New York: Staten Island Chuck
• Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Bill
• Washington.: Potomac Phil, a stuffed groundhog

The official website of Punxsutawney Phil counters he is the “only true weather forecasting groundhog” and that the others are “just impostors.”

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