Thread by @ggreenwald

CNN has a long article by @MarshallCohen that purports to provide a "reckoning" on the Steele Dossier. It admits that much of it has been proven to be a fraud, that much of the media participated in the fraud, and Trump has been "partially vindicated."

edition.cnn.com/2021/11/18/pol…

The reality -- which the corporate media is still trying to conceal even as they pretend to admit they helped perpetuate a fraud -- is that virtually every sector of the liberal media made the core conspiracy theory of the Steele Dossier (Putin blackmail) central to our politics:

Even when they didn't mention the Steele Dossier explicitly, all of the major media outlets in the liberal sector -- NYT, WPost, NBC, CNN -- constantly pushed, for years, the deranged conspiracy theory from it: that Putin had seized control of the US through blackmail over Trump.

Don't let them trick you into thinking they're providing accountability for this. Not one journalist will lose their job for this fraud. On its payroll, CNN still has most of the security state agents and media liars who most pushed the Steele Dossier, including @NatashaBetrand.

Almost every discussion on both CNN and MSNBC for years began this way: we now welcome our panel of former prosecutors, FBI agents, CIA operatives, NSA and Pentagon officials, here to tell us why Trump is controlled by Putin. Look how they merged with the security state:

They all used the Steele Dossier over and over, even when they pretended they weren't. That the Kremlin had seized control over the US was the central, core theme of the Democratic Party and corporate media like NBC, CNN and the NYT for years. Just look at them do it:

The NYT and WPost in particular are in this desperate mode of pretending it was just the crazy cable hosts -- not the Serious Journalists like them -- who pushed this. It's an utter lie. The Pulitzers they showered themselves with included this fraud.

taibbi.substack.com/p/the-russiaga…

The reason there can't be any accountability for the Steele Dossier fraud -- which they are now finally forced to admit was a fraud -- is because they were all implicated in it. Where would the accountability begin? Who in media stood up and objected? They all went along with it.

By far the two biggest liars in politics were @AdamSchiff and @ericswalwell, who just happen to be the favorite sources and guests for CNN and NBC. Most of the Congressional leaks that were lies came from those two, plus Pelosi. It was a union of media, Dems & the security state.

Right, I did and so did a few others. But those who objected were immediately cast out off those corporate precincts, banned, and were declared to be off-limits, radioactive and crazy, so all dissent was eliminated. Only the liars remained, unchallenged:

https://twitter.com/EstabanLopez13/status/1461686844639395843

This is why a "reckoning" of the 4-year fraud they perpetrated is impossible:

Just as the media in 2004 tried pretending it was only Judy Miller who spread WMD falsehoods -- scapegoating her as a way to protect themselves -- they're now trying to pretend that it was only Maddow and Ben Smith responsible for the Steele Dossier. It was an industry-wide scam.