To the editor:

Several GOP congressmen, in particular Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, are disseminating false information about the FBI, trying to hurt its reputation as Special Counsel Robert Mueller gets closer to the Oval Office. Disgusting. Johnson even is implying with no evidence that a “secret society” exists that meets with the aim of a “coup d’état” to take down the president. Friends, this is dangerous and signals to the world that something nefarious is occurring here — indeed a threat to our democracy.

Remember a certain Sen. Joseph McCarthy, also of Wisconsin, in the 1950s (I’m old enough to remember) who found Communists under every bed post? He eventually was drummed out of Congress after being confronted in a hearing by the Army’s chief legal representative, who asked, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”

Well, watch for this effort to be intensified in the coming weeks by right wing blogs and networks that disseminate such information — and don’t be fooled.