I said, right here, repeatedly, that of *course* Steele knew that some of his information was Russian disinformation. And that of course the FBI knew it. Because in dealing with raw material from Russia, you *always make that assumption.* But now it's "jaw-dropping." Uh, no. /1
This is what raw intelligence looks like before it's debated and reworked into a final report by an analyst or team of analyst. Steele didn't make the claim it was all true; Trump's defenders are arguing he did, and therefore any part of it being wrong invalidates it all. /2
This, of course, is to try to make the argument that Steele was either a dupe or doctored the evidence, presented the file as 100 percent, and sent the FBI off on an anti-Trump goose chase. This, we know from Mueller, isn't how it happened, but that's the narrative. /3
Also important: Steele would, like any good spook, include the disinformation because analyzing what the Russians are trying to seed in among the stories *is itself an important intelligence matter*. Knowing what the enemy is trying to get you to believe is an important thing. /4
Anyway, the idea that "ZOMG the Feds knew there was Russian fakery in there!" is not a revelation. I mean, if you've been following me, I said it repeatedly. /5
Like here:
and here
and here
Like here:
and here
and here
But sure, no one thought of it before. /6x
