The F.B.I. had been following my father for about a year before his death, shadowing him wherever he went, even when he paid a visit to the deathbed of his friend (and co-star) Canada Lee. Agents visited my school. They followed my mother to the grocery store. They tapped our phones.

These actions were in every respect a true “witch hunt.” The committee hounded United States citizens, looking to prosecute and persecute anyone it considered a “leftist,” very often with scant proof. More frequently all it had was innuendo, insinuation and lies.

Most of those blacklisted people weren’t famous like my father. They were teachers, writers, directors, painters, intellectuals; many, but not all of them, worked in creative fields.

My father was never a member of the Communist Party, although my mother briefly was. He had learned his craft in the legendary Group Theater, some of whose members had been in the party. They were idealists searching for a way to help the poor and hungry, the unfortunates of our country. They had survived the Great Depression and took literally Emma Lazarus’s words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Both the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator McCarthy’s committee were focused on hunting down as many “Reds” as they could, destroying reputations and careers along the way. Some of those people left the country. Others were able to work only under assumed names. And some, like my father, were hounded to death.

So I cringe when I hear President Trump claim to be the victim of a “witch hunt” because of the F.B.I.’s investigation into Russian interference in one of our most vital rights: free elections.

How ironic that Mr. Trump has adopted the phrase used to criticize the work of his friend and mentor, Roy Cohn. But this investigation is no witch hunt. It is an appropriate, responsible and intelligent response to a hostile act against the nation.

And remember this, Mr. President: You still have your job, your family, your money. And your life.