Donald Trump is taking the high road in the wake of the October surprise of the director of the FBI, Jas. Comey, who announced earlier this afternoon that the bureau will reopen — if that’s what it’s doing — the investigation in respect of Secretary Clinton’s email. Mr. Trump, in remarks made but minutes after the announcement, praised both the FBI and the Justice Department for “courage.” Mr. Comey’s letter, in any event, is quite the October surprise.

“In previous Congressional testimony, I referred to the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s personal email server,” Mr. Comey wrote to committee chairmen at Congress. “Due to recent developments, I am writing to supplement my previous testimony. In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.”

“I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation. Although the FBI cannot yet assess whether this material may be significant.”

Even with the vagueness the development is huge, coming as it does ten days before an election in which the candidate at the center of this probe is regarded by the public with record distrust. It is a tragedy for Mrs. Clinton, but people don’t trust her. That, more than the sex scandals and Donald Trump’s rough-hewn temperament, is the central character question in this campaign.

Mr. Comey’s letter will accomplish nothing so much as to ensure that this question is high in the national consciousness as the candidates are catapulted to the polls. It will put into sharp relief the fact that a president can be impeached even for high crimes or misdemeanors committed before he or she acceded to the White House. (Think, say, what might have happened had Vice President Agnew refused to resign.*)

The latest development makes clear that Mr. Comey made a serious error when he allowed Mrs. Clinton to skate the first time. Attorney General Lynch herself made a mistake when she delegated to someone other than a proper prosecutor the decision on whether to pursue charges. That is particularly clear in light of her reception of President Clinton in her airplane at Phoenix. The latest developments ensure that these questions will fester no matter who wins the election.

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* The one charge of which Agnew, after pleading nolo contendere, was convicted was tax evasion on income from 1967, prior to his entering federal office.