Remember the Steele dossier? It went to hell today, barely making news.
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
Now that its been thoroughly discredited, anyone care for a trip down memory lane about how folks on the left & in the media hyped it up because it made Trump look bad?
๐งตThread๐งตhttps://t.co/SUfR73PzcP
@CNN made it a point to bring up the dossier early and often, and frequently led with the most explosive claims. They even attacked @DevinNunes for being rightfully dubious. pic.twitter.com/FMIRuVCDYy
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
One tactic was to bring on elected officials and other โreputableโ people to talk up the dossier.
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
In retrospect, Iโm not sure they picked the most trustworthy folks.
Featuring James Clapper, Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, @RepSwalwell and @RepAdamSchiff. pic.twitter.com/jgX5TpTulG
@RepAdamSchiff didnโt exactly cover himself in glory on this one. pic.twitter.com/SgTzZIUKk9
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
CNN wasnโt alone. One of the most consistent media voices in all things Russian Collusion has been @NYMag pic.twitter.com/o1waauyTcx
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
Much of NYMagโs discussion was led by @jonathanchait, the same journalist who advanced the theory that perhaps Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987.
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
Itโs hard not to look at this as similarly conspiratorial at this point. pic.twitter.com/IVdLSSBRJt
But probably the most vociferous cheerleader of the Steele dossier was @maddow, who hyped it at every turn.
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
Select screenshots of it are below, but well worth your time is @ErikWempleโs series on this: https://t.co/6tstIIBSsv pic.twitter.com/SjYu5QK59q
Really just a lot from @maddow, including on @MaddowBlog.
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
Also another feature from Clapper. pic.twitter.com/LHzF1dzYrO
And she managed to suck in much of the rest of the network. @MSNBC was probably the worst of the mainstream outlets on this. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/lpE5jbgr2Y
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
More from @MSNBC, including having the cofounder of Fusion GPS on to very believably speak to the impeachable standards of Fusion. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/SJF9yE1Z3C
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
While more outlets than I expected were reasonable about all this, @Newsweek was not one of them. I continue to be mystified at what this paper has become. pic.twitter.com/Xit3rtSlwJ
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
@Slate went pretty full-blown conspiracy monger on all this, too. pic.twitter.com/tQ9CsJQfoB
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
We had many of the usual voices check in on this one. From behind the block is @therickwilson.
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020
Is anyone worse at predicting how the future will turn out? pic.twitter.com/G9i1FCKN1U
@JoyAnnReidโs penchant for conspiracy theories deserves a lot more attention than it receives. pic.twitter.com/aTiNf20Gk7
โ Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 20, 2020