Thread by @DrewHolden360

Remember the Steele dossier? It went to hell today, barely making news.

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?

🧵Thread🧵
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@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.

One tactic was to bring on elected officials and other “reputable” people to talk up the dossier.

In retrospect, I’m not sure they picked the most trustworthy folks.

Featuring James Clapper, Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, @RepSwalwell and @RepAdamSchiff.

@RepAdamSchiff didn’t exactly cover himself in glory on this one.

And some of CNN’s voices you’ll surely recognize chimed in. Here’s @brianstelter.

CNN wasn’t alone. One of the most consistent media voices in all things Russian Collusion has been @NYMag

Much of NYMag’s discussion was led by @jonathanchait, the same journalist who advanced the theory that perhaps Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987.

It’s hard not to look at this as similarly conspiratorial at this point.

But probably the most vociferous cheerleader of the Steele dossier was @maddow, who hyped it at every turn.

Select screenshots of it are below, but well worth your time is @ErikWemple’s series on this: google.com/amp/s/www.wash…

Really just a lot from @maddow, including on @MaddowBlog.

Also another feature from Clapper.

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)

More from @MSNBC, including having the cofounder of Fusion GPS on to very believably speak to the impeachable standards of Fusion. (2/2)

And Maddow gets us to one of the original advocates of this theory, @DavidCornDC of Mother Jones. His original reporting kicked off a lot of this firestorm.

The central allegation is that the POTUS is beholden to our geopolitical enemy. Black helicopters stuff.

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.

@Slate went pretty full-blown conspiracy monger on all this, too.

We had many of the usual voices check in on this one. From behind the block is @therickwilson.

Is anyone worse at predicting how the future will turn out?

@JoyAnnReid’s penchant for conspiracy theories deserves a lot more attention than it receives.

I mean, seriously, @JoyAnnReid

Obligatory @JRubinBlogger mention, featuring “what is remarkable is how accurate the reporting has been on this all along”

No surprises from @MaxBoot

And ditto for @MalcolmNance, yet another big fan of Russian collusion. Also getting @SteveSchmidtSES in here.

Obligatory @SethAbramson mention.

Running out of space and patience but don’t forget about:

- former democratic 2020 presidential front runner @MichaelAvenatti
- @matthewjdowd (I don’t share your confidence here) and

-“there is not a single part of the Steele dossier that has been discredited” @CheriJacobus

I couldn’t possibly leave @funder off of this list. He may be the best example.

Any follow up on that “analysis” of yours, @funder?

And no thread is complete without @kurteichenwald.

Any more thoughts on conspiracy theories?

Anyway, take away here should be clear: our media should have a shred of incredulity when it comes to enormous and explosive claims, up to and including the leader of the free world being a Russian puppet.

Couple bonuses to throw in.

First, @thedailybeast, who even did an exclusive with Mr. Steele.

Now it isn’t just “Trump’s defenders” pointing out that the dossier is concocted.

@JaneMayerNYer was one of the media personalities at the forefront of pushing the validity of the dossier.

@AdamParkhomenko doing the Trump capitalization schtick.

And okay one more for @funder

Also, how could I forget @tribelaw.

I don’t have anything to sell or link to. But don’t forget this is an incredibly difficult time for many & food banks across the country are really hurting.

I’m sure your local food bank is asking for donations. If you don’t have one, here’s my parish’s: adw.org/ways-to-give/f…