No, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not working for Donald Trump — though Hillary Clinton should be forgiven for suspecting that. The reality is more troubling.

James Comey, the FBI director, was panicked into issuing his statement by the opposite fear — that if he had held back Republicans would have accused him of working for Mrs Clinton. Mr Comey, the fearsome sentinel, has over-reached. Public servants should never take actions that could sway a presidential election. His lapse was a result of Mr Trump having already singled him out as part of a “rigged system”. In a country so viscerally divided, neutrality is treated as collusion. On Friday Mr Comey was hustled into making an error.

Autocracies are run on fear. Democracies are held together by trust. The reckless timing of Mr Comey’s disclosure that he was expanding the investigation into Mrs Clinton’s emails is what happens when officials wobble. If Mr Trump wins next week he has vowed to put Mrs Clinton in jail. His supporters chant “l(fā)ock her up” at every rally. If Mrs Clinton wins, Mr Trump will find more Comeys to intimidate. When one side in a democracy throws around pre-emptive charges of treason — and there is none higher than rigging a presidential election — the ground on which the law stands shrinks. It is harder to uphold blind justice, or administer a neutral process, when a storm is blowing around you. Mr Trump’s campaign is a howling gale. Mr Comey just lost his shirt.