With just eight days to go in the 2016 presidential election, one of the two candidates with an actual chance to be president of the United States is under an active criminal investigation.

The FBI announced Friday it had reopened its probe into Hillary Clinton’s use, as secretary of state, of a private server to store emails that contained classified information.

Electing someone president who is the subject of a criminal probe … threatens to destroy faith in our institutions at a moment when respect for our leaders is already at historic lows.

Clinton declared after the news broke that “the American people, a long time ago, made up their minds about the emails.” But the American people beg to differ. A Washington Post poll showed that a third are less likely to support Clinton in the wake of the FBI’s announcement.

That’s because it reminds them that the Clintons are a cesspool of corruption, illicit sex, and secrecy. And that this unethical woman, who is potentially also a criminal, will remain subject to investigation — whether the current one or the next one — long after she assumes office.

Electing someone president who is the subject of a criminal probe would put the United States in a category with every banana, pineapple, or passion fruit republic that makes corrupt government its standard of practice. And it threatens to destroy faith in our institutions at a moment when respect for our leaders is already at historic lows.

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Appearing at a rally with Clinton just a day before news of the renewed FBI probe broke, first lady Michelle Obama, dripping with sanctimony, declared that America’s children needed a president they could look up to.

“No, no, no, this election is about something much bigger,” she said, as Hillary gazed on approvingly. “It’s about who will shape our children and the country we leave for them, not just for the next four or eight years but for the rest of their lives. Because as Hillary pointed out, we all know — we know the influence our president has on our children — how they turn on the TV and they see the most powerful role model in the world, someone who shows them how to treat others, how to deal with disappointment, whether to tell the truth. They’re taking it all in.”

That Mrs. Obama thinks Mrs. Clinton is going to teach children to tell the truth suggests she may either be the most uninformed woman in America or slightly delusional. Mrs. Clinton has told innumerable lies throughout her career, including most recently about Benghazi and her emails.

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Donald Trump would certainly acknowledge he is hardly a candidate for the priesthood. But Hillary’s endless scandals, tawdry moneymaking schemes, and record of covering for the sexually immorality of her husband — who is accused of rape and would be front and center in the White House with her — surpasses the concern about Trump. What makes Mrs. Clinton even worse for — yes — our children, is that the FBI is trying to determine if she is a criminal.

What a civics lesson for kids. While their parents and teachers attempt to instruct them about the greatness of the American system of government — to the extent they’re still teaching that in schools, anyway — children could well be watching as the president is impeached and removed from office.

The resignation of Richard Nixon just before impeachment proceedings began destroyed trust in government for an entire generation of Americans.

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Putting Mrs. Clinton in office threatens to expose children to the trauma of the nation’s leader being forcibly expelled from office, along with the gut-wrenching blood sport that will be waged as Clinton’s legion of unsavory operatives try to defend her and destroy her accusers. The country is simply setting itself up for another “long national nightmare,” in the words of President Ford following the pardon of Nixon that put an end to the nation’s awful 18 months of Watergate.

One Clinton, remember, has already been impeached. It runs in the family. And Bill Clinton was not, as Democrats would have it, impeached over sexual behavior — shacking up in the Oval Office with an intern — that would have caused the CEO of the smallest corporation to be immediately removed. It was because he committed perjury before a grand jury and attempted to obstruct justice. Bill and Hillary Clinton have been together for 40 years, because they are, ultimately, alike.

Whatever Donald Trump’s sins, he is not under investigation by the FBI. The agency is run by a man, James Comey, appointed by a Democrat. Comey’s earlier decision not to recommend prosecuting Hillary was questionable at best and emerged from a probe that was far too deferential to Mrs. Clinton and her subordinates. That he would revive the investigation now, and probably sacrifice his career in doing so, is convincing evidence that Americans could elect a criminal to be president of the United States.

Michelle Obama, take note. The children of America deserve better than this.

Keith Koffler is the editor of the website White House Dossier and the newsletter Cut to the News.