Take a regulatory agency already under fire for its performance over the past few years, a hostile Congress whose leadership craves ammunition it can use in its ongoing battle over that agency's budget, and a vocal minority in the media that vehemently believes the agency's failings are not due to mistakes or even incompetence, but to “regulatory capture” or outright corruption on the part of its leadership.
To this toxic mix, throw in a whistleblower's allegations that the agency is engaged in a practice that can be, at a surface level, described as destroying evidence. Now you have the blazing ...