Montage: Media pushed narrative that Steele dossier wasn't 'disproven' for years
CNN and MSNBC heaped credibility on the discredited Christopher Steele dossier alleging Russian collusion with the Donald Trump campaign.
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple took CNN to task over its past coverage of the infamous Steele dossier, which continues to unravel amid revelations from the Durham probe.
Last week, Special Counsel John Durham announced the third indictment in his investigation looking into the origins of Russiagate. Igor Danchenko, a Russian national living in the U.S. and the primary sub-source for ex-British spy Christopher Steele, was accused of lying to the FBI and was revealed to have ties to Democrats.
Wemple highlighted CNN's coverage of the Durham indictment, but pointed out, "There was one thing missing from that discussion: CNN’s long-standing claim that the Steele dossier had been at least partly corroborated."
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The Post's media critic listed several statements made by CNN's talent from Don Lemon claiming in November 2017 that "much of the dossier has been corroborated," the network's reporting from February 2017 that federal investigators "corroborated some of the communications" and that "intercepts do confirm that some of the conversations described in the dossier took place between the same individuals on the same days and from the same locations as detailed in the dossier, according to the officials" to Wolf Blitzer in June 2017 saying CNN has "corroborated some elements of that dossier" and John Vause in January 2018 claimed, "A lot has been verified."
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"The Danchenko indictment contextualizes the flimsiness, alleging that Danchenko fabricated a conversation with a source and relied on a Democratic operative for a claim that ended up in the document," Wemple wrote on Friday. "In light of the recent developments, we asked CNN if it still stands by its ‘corroboration’ reporting and, if so, to which specific parts of the dossier does that apply? We received no response."
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Wemple noted CNN's statement to him in 2020 standing by its previous reporting on the Steele Dossier, telling the media critic, "Our approach to the dossier has been consistent since day one. CNN only reported details when they were corroborated, part of a government filing, or publicly discussed by officials or those mentioned."
"Consistent? Yes, to its credit, CNN covered the Danchenko indictment with a smattering of reports last Thursday," Wemple wrote. "By contrast, the ‘corroboration’ story of February 2017 received saturation coverage at a network programmed to hype all Trump-related items. That brand of asymmetry helps explain why many people mistrust CNN."
Russian national Igor Danchenko, who is believed to be the sub-source for the Steele dossier, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to making false statements about the source of information that he provided. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Washington Post, by contrast, offered significant corrections on two reports that fueled the collusion narrative between former President Trump and Russia.
"The Washington Post on Friday took the unusual step of correcting and removing large portions of two articles, published in March 2017 and February 2019, that had identified a Belarusan American businessman as a key source of the ‘Steele dossier,’ a collection of largely unverified reports that claimed the Russian government had compromising information about then-candidate Donald Trump," Post media reporter Paul Farhi wrote.
"The newspaper’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, said The Post could no longer stand by the accuracy of those elements of the story. It had identified businessman Sergei Millian as ‘Source D,’ the unnamed figure who passed on the most salacious allegation in the dossier to its principal author, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele," Farhi continued.
The Washington Post corrected previous reporting that relied on the discredited Steele dossier on Friday. (ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images) (ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
The Post added editor’s notes, amended headlines, removed sections identifying Millian as the source and deleted an accompanying video summarizing the article.
"Source D, according to the dossier, alleged that Russian intelligence had learned that Trump had hired Russian prostitutes to defile a Moscow hotel room once occupied by President Obama and Michelle Obama and possessed a video recording of the incident," Farhi wrote. "The allegation, which the dossier said was confirmed by a second person described only as ‘Source E,’ has never been substantiated."
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The Post’s correction came as other news outlets, including CNN and MSNBC, have been criticized for failing to adjust reporting after Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the Trump-Russia probe further discredited the already-shaky dossier.
The dossier – which was commissioned by a research firm hired by a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer – provided the liberal media with countless anti-Trump headlines, cable news segments and helped set the tone for years of feverish Russiagate coverage.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.