1. I’m pretty sure he picked this up from Fox (thread)
2. Mark Elias is the top election lawyer in Democratic politics. He was general counsel for Clinton in 2016 and Kerry in 2004. He has a particular specialty in recounts, helping several D candidates to victory. In other words, he’s exactly the guy you hire if you’re Bill Nelson. 
3. In 2016, Elias retained the research firm Fusion GPS to conduct research into Trump’s Russia ties. This resulted in Christopher Steele’s dossier, which Fox News and other conservatives have spent the past few years trying to discredit.
4. Because Trump is an inveterate Fox watcher, that obsession with Fusion GPS and the dossier frequently spills over into his Twitter feed.
5. Breitbart seems to have been, if not first to draw the connection between Elias working for Nelson and Fusion, than at least early to it. Published this story around 6:30 pm last night.
6. Brian Kilmeade was the first at Fox to mention the Elias-Fusion connection, bringing in up while guest-hosting Tucker Carlson's 8 pm show in an interview with Marco Rubio.
7. Sean Hannity yelled about it the next hour during his monologue, saying Elias had been at the "center of the biggest corruption scandal, abuse of power scandal in our history."
8. Hannity brought it up again later in the show while interviewing Rick Scott. mediamatters.org/video/2018/11/…
9. The story came up twice this morning on Fox & Friends, the president's favorite show. Here's Brian Kilmeade at the top of the 6 am hour:
10. And here he is again at the top of the 7 am hour.
Between these references and his work last night, Brian Kilmeade is probably the person most responsible for Trump talking about this.
Between these references and his work last night, Brian Kilmeade is probably the person most responsible for Trump talking about this.
11. A few hours later, Trump was raising the issue with reporters at the White House. Fox feedback loop in action.
More on this from @pbump
