# ...Buzzfeed were right to publish Christopher Steele's Trump Dossier. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 14, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161 "2017-01-14T21:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/21 "2017-01-15T01:19:09Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > When was the identity of Deep Throat finally discovered? What is your point? Nothing W&B published was sourced only from DT. He just led them to the sources. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/22 "2017-01-15T01:25:02Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yes, virtually every news outlet was against Trump. Even the conservative newspapers endorsed “Not Trump” and often Clinton. _There is a reason for this._ It’s the same reason virtually every country in the world except Russia favored Clinton over Trump: Trump’s an unqualified buffoon with no idea what he’s doing - you might as well offer the job to a _toddler_. > > But of course, these nuances apparently were lost on most people. > > And of course, let’s not forget that the media spent more time on Clinton’s emails than they did on literally all policy issues combined, and gleefully reported on her wall street speeches and the nothingburger that was conflicts of interest surrounding her foundation (while largely ignoring Trump’s). But go ahead, keep pretending that the media was unreservedly pro-Clinton. :rolleyes: There appears a disconnect between the start of the paragraph and the last sentence. No credible recorder could ever say that the mainstream media did not insist Clinton was the next president ------ and did not attempt to slur Trump. In a way they would not have slurred any of his non-outsider Republican rivals, all of whom would be more loathly than he. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/23 "2017-01-15T01:45:13Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Look, someone in the USA wanted to smear a presidential candidate and paid $200,000 to get a well-connected credible foreigner to do the hatchet job. > > That’s all it is - it’s not news, it has zero value, it is nothing. “And, maybe I’m crazy, but doesn’t that sound like a job for the House of Representatives.” CJ Cregg, West Wing ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/24 "2017-01-15T01:49:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What is your point? Nothing W&B published was sourced only from DT. He just led them to the sources. Yeah, incan only surmise that **Baron Greenback** ’s cultural education didn’t involve docu-dramas from 1976. In any case, Ben Bradlee knew the identity of Deep Throat and wanted his reporters to kee digging. I suspect his next question may be something like, “Didn’t that story break on twitter?” ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/25 "2017-01-15T02:21:24Z")
Responsible journalism dictates verifying before publishing. Not that I consider Buzzfeed responsible journalism. Also, if you’re against Trump, publishing unverified nonsense is a bit of an own goal. Not only does it dilute the effect of verifiable actually concerning things, it makes some dangerous attacks against the first amendment more palatable to the general public: [https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/13/randazza-donald-trumps-golden-opportunity/](https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/13/randazza-donald-trumps-golden-opportunity/) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/26 "2017-01-15T04:03:17Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > Responsible journalism dictates verifying before publishing. Not that I consider Buzzfeed responsible journalism. > > Also, if you’re against Trump, publishing unverified nonsense is a bit of an own goal. Not only does it dilute the effect of verifiable actually concerning things, it makes some dangerous attacks against the first amendment more palatable to the general public: [https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/13/randazza-donald-trumps-golden-opportunity/](https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/13/randazza-donald-trumps-golden-opportunity/) While I do agree that the whole lot was not worth it to be published, you should realize that Trump condemned both Buzzfed and CNN **equally**. But as the Hill reported CNN did exactly what The Pope Hat is reporting that The New York times did to show that they were responsible. [http://thehill.com/homenews/media/313797-tapper-defends-cnn-coverage-after-heated-trump-presser](http://thehill.com/homenews/media/313797-tapper-defends-cnn-coverage-after-heated-trump-presser) > [@](#): > > CNN reported that a two-page report based at least in part on the 35-page dossier was included in a briefing to Trump by intelligence officials. Those high-ranking officials have also briefed President Obama and key lawmakers on its contents. CNN did not report on the specific contents of the dossier published by Buzzfeed, explicitly stating it could not corroborate their contents. > > The network further defended its reporting Wednesday, saying that its “decision to publish carefully sourced reporting about the operations of our government is vastly different than BuzzFeed’s decision to publish unsubstantiated memos.” > > “The Trump team knows this. They are using BuzzFeed’s decision to deflect from CNN’s reporting, which has been matched by the other major news organizations,” CNN said in a statement, calling on Trump’s team to identify specific details they believe to be inaccurate. The problem with Trump is that only if he could use his brain more and not his mouth he could indeed had the higher ground, instead he had to blame CNN and get a lot of what he claimed about CNN wrong and publicly take apart an innocent reporter. I just finished watching _All the President’s Men_ (1976) and let me tell you that, sure, the politicians hate the press; but the people still does appreciate that politicians are taken to task by the press and other media. In the movie almost all the politicians and people that told the TV crews virtually the same “solutions” to control the press that they want to apply to CNN and others ended up resigning in disgrace. Not that I think this particular item will sink Trump and buddies that want to get rid of the first amendment. But this looks to me as the start of a war that Trump is not likely to win. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/27 "2017-01-15T04:27:59Z")
Just one comment a bit unrelated: Sheesh! Even the set decorators in All the President’s Men (who also won the Oscar in 1997) got the look of used or seen reams of paper right. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cpXKbU1ORrk/hqdefault.jpg "All the President's Men (1976) - Jason Robards") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpXKbU1ORrk&t=29) There is still no proper explanation for this likely stupid, unnecessary and badly executed trick in Trump’s press conference: [http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313907-trump-didnt-allow-reporters-to-see-documents-detailing-split](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313907-trump-didnt-allow-reporters-to-see-documents-detailing-split) > **[Donald Trump shows the world folders 'containing his business plan', then...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-press-conference-folders-business-plan-empire-blank-fake-handover-donald-jr-eric-conflict-interests-a7523426.html)** > > The President-elect also packed the press conference with staff members who laughed and applauded throughout > [@](#): > > The papers that Donald Trump made the centre of his first press conference in six months actually appear to have been blank. > > The conference also appears to have been filled with staff members who were expected to laugh and applaud throughout the event. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/28 "2017-01-15T06:44:10Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > And that argument would have legs if Mr. Steele had just taken his paycheck, and let the people who hired him publish this stuff during the election, when it might have had some actual effect on the election. > But that’s not what he did. > > He thought this info was credible enough that he took it to what he thought were the proper authorities, and said, “Hey, maybe you guys should look into this!” And he did that on his own dime, with no expectation that anyone would pay him anything extra for this. > > So there’s that to consider. You think he did what he did unprompted and not part of the deal? You don’t, surely … ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/29 "2017-01-15T06:49:49Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > While I do agree that the whole lot was not worth it to be published, you should realize that Trump condemned both Buzzfed and CNN **equally**. But as the Hill reported CNN did exactly what The Pope Hat is reporting that The New York times did to show that they were responsible. > > [http://thehill.com/homenews/media/313797-tapper-defends-cnn-coverage-after-heated-trump-presser](http://thehill.com/homenews/media/313797-tapper-defends-cnn-coverage-after-heated-trump-presser) > The problem with Trump is that only if he could use his brain more and not his mouth he could indeed had the higher ground, instead he had to blame CNN and get a lot of what he claimed about CNN wrong and publicly take apart an innocent reporter. > > I just finished watching _All the President’s Men_ (1976) and let me tell you that, sure, the politicians hate the press; but the people still does appreciate that politicians are taken to task by the press and other media. In the movie almost all the politicians and people that told the TV crews virtually the same “solutions” to control the press that they want to apply to CNN and others ended up resigning in disgrace. > > Not that I think this particular item will sink Trump and buddies that want to get rid of the first amendment. But this looks to me as the start of a war that Trump is not likely to win. I think the difference is that CNN was the first MSM outlet to run with the story. All the other reputable sources I read were quoting CNN as having reported it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/30 "2017-01-15T06:57:56Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Or alternatively he was well-paid by his shadowy right-wing employers — Republicans not Hillary — and when they decided it was crap, he decided to double-dip and hawk it about again. > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > You think he did what he did unprompted and not part of the deal? You don’t, surely … So you’re both okay with postulating, without evidence, a conspiracy _against_ Trump, but think it’s implausible that someone might expose a conspiracy _for_ Trump. Feel free to provide any evidence that Mr. Steele did what he did based on “prompting” from anyone, or being “well-paid” by anyone. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/31 "2017-01-15T07:01:42Z")
End of the day, you don’t spend $200,000 for a private smear. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/32 "2017-01-15T07:13:44Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > End of the day, you don’t spend $200,000 for a private smear. …at the end of the day if you are collecting money for a “private smear” you release the smear before the fucking election so that it has an actual fucking impact. What you insinuate just doesn’t make any sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/33 "2017-01-15T07:17:50Z")
It was ‘released’; news outlets had the story since November - inc. the NYT, WP and BBC. None considered it worthy. It still isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/34 "2017-01-15T07:19:13Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …at the end of the day if you are collecting money for a “private smear” you release the smear before the fucking election so that it has an actual fucking impact. What you insinuate just doesn’t make any sense at all. Yeah, this. All the money that has been admitted to have been paid was paid _before_ the election. Why would this supposed anti-Trump faction have not made use of this information until _after_ the election? That just doesn’t make any fucking sense. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/35 "2017-01-15T07:24:54Z")
See the post above yours - I’m surprised you don’t know it has been around since November. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/36 "2017-01-15T07:28:21Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > It was ‘released’; news outlets had the story since November - inc. the NYT, WP and BBC. None considered it worthy. It still isn’t. …it was not released. If the people that “paid for the smear” wanted to actually “run with the smear” they would have held a press conference and they would have released the documents themselves. They would have self-published it on their blog. They would have posted it on Twitter. They didn’t do that. There isn’t a thing about this story that points to wrong-doing by Steele. The media had it but they did not release it. They sat on it. Buzzfeed were the first to release. Of course it is “worthy.” The media didn’t release it not because “they didn’t find it worthy.” They have publicly stated they didn’t release it because they state it was not “verified.” > [@](#): > > See the post above yours - I’m surprised you don’t know it has been around since November. And if you had read my OP you would be well aware I knew that the press had the information in November. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/37 "2017-01-15T07:32:58Z")
Right, and you think “it makes no fucking sense” to have made it available to the world’s media n November. Look, take a clue from the front pages of today’s serious media (Sunday); no mention of this bullshit on any front pages, and presumably inside pages either; at least in the UK. It’s just a smear - and you are being mugged every much as Colin Powell attempted to do with his ‘dossier’ at the UN. You have to learn to be discerning, esp. in the age of instant everything and this stupid ‘I just learned/I just heard’ click bait crap. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/38 "2017-01-15T07:38:55Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Right, and you think “it makes no fucking sense” to have made it available to the world’s media n November. …cite that the worlds media got the document from either Steele or the people who paid him? > [@](#): > > Look, take a clue from the front pages of today’s serious media (Sunday); no mention of this bullshit on any front pages, and presumably inside pages either; at least min the UK. And that is one of the reasons I started this thread. > [@](#): > > It’s just a smear - and you are being mugged every much as Colin Powell did with his ‘dosier’ at the UN. I’m not the one being mugged. That is my entire point. > [@](#): > > You have to learn to be discerning, esp. in the age of instant everything. I have been discerning. You haven’t been discerning. You have only been dismissive. Which is why you haven’t actually bothered to address any of the points I bought up in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/39 "2017-01-15T08:03:52Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s the reputable media’s job to sit on information until they can confirm it’s true. …confirm what to be true? It is true that Steele has an unimpeachable reputation amongst his peers. It is true that his job was to “dig up dirt” on President-Elect Trump. It is true that he used his sources in Russia to compile a dossier about what Trump got up to allegedly in Russia. It is true that Steele gave this information directly to the FBI. It is true that John McCain also gave a copy to the FBI. It is also true that on December the 10th Harry Reid called on Comey to resign, saying: [QUOTE=Harry Reid] Pressed on whether he believed Comey had information on Russia’s influence and sat on it, Reid replied: “That’s right, that is true.” “I am so disappointed in Comey. He has let the country down for partisan purposes and that’s why I call him the new J Edgar Hoover, because I believe that,” Reid added, calling for the director’s resignation. “I think he should be investigated by the Senate. He should be investigated by other agencies of the government including the security agencies because if ever there was a matter of security it’s this … I don’t think any of us understood how partisan Comey was.” [/QUOTE] It is true that that information that Comey had was the information in the dossier that Buzzfeed released. It is true that the dossier was in the hands of the media and in the hands of several partisan sources prior to election night. it is true that none of those partisan sources and none of the media released any details of the dossier prior to the election. It is almost certainly true that if Buzzfeed didn’t release the dossier, then somebody else was going too. There were bloggers that I follow on twitter who had obviously seen the document and have been talking about it since prior to the elections. This wasn’t a secret document. This wasn’t secret information. Steele’s sources were blown once he decided to do what he saw was his duty and he handed the information over to the FBI. Once he did that: and he did that months ago…his sources were compromised. And they were compromised because if the allegations are true: the Trump administration are leaking information this very minute to the Russians. There isn’t going to be further verification of Steele’s sources. > [@](#): > > By July, the counter-intelligence contractor had collected a significant amount of material based on Russian sources who he had grown to trust over the years – not just in Moscow, but also among oligarchs living in the west. He delivered his reports, but the gravity of their contents weighed on him. If the allegations were real, their implications were overwhelming. > > He delivered a set to former colleagues in the FBI, whose counter-intelligence division would be the appropriate body to investigate. It is believed he also passed a copy to his own country’s intelligence service, but it felt constrained in what action it could take and left it up to the Americans to do their own investigation and draw their own conclusions. > > As summer turned to autumn, the investigator was asked for more information by the FBI but heard nothing back about any investigation. The bureau seemed obsessed instead with classified material that flowed through a private email server set up by Clinton’s aides. The FBI’s director, James Comey, threw the election into a spin 11 days before the vote by announcing his investigators were examining newly discovered material. > **[How the Trump dossier came to light: secret sources, a retired spy and John...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/11/trump-russia-report-opposition-research-john-mccain)** > > What began as opposition research during the Republican primary slowly grew from a covert investigation into an extraordinary but unverified global story The media have been sitting on all of this information since before the elections. The existence of this dossier is a story in itself: and the FBI’s handling of the dossier is news. Did you think the mere existence of this dossier should have been kept secret? Is keeping it secret the job of the media? > [@](#): > > If that takes forever, then that’s a good indication the information isn’t true. What a load of tosh. If Steele’s sources are either dead or in hiding then the verification to the standard you require may never ever happen. That neither indicates the information is true or false. But the information in the documents is just part of the story. The other part: the FBI handling of the information, is just as important. > [@](#): > > I don’t expect the NYT to have the same standards as the National Enquirer. Buzzfeed needs to decide which sort of media outlet it wants to be. You do realize that the Trump Administration is conducting a full-fledged propaganda campaign on your country right? Have you actually noticed? Did you watch the last press conference? Display tables with blank folders and blank sheets of tables? Paid staffers clapping and cheering? We all laughed at Baghdad Bob. But Baghdad Bob was on a hiding to nothing. Baghdad Bob was a pale imitation of what Trump and his associates are doing. Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway gish gallop: they pivot, the equivocate, they flat out lie. They spin everything. Watch some of their interviews. They are brilliant bullshitters. The only interviewer to come close to matching them was Seth Fucking Meyers: everybody else simply can’t cope. Here’s the thing. You are actually correct. We live in a “post-truth” age. The old rules simply don’t apply now. The administration is not going to play fair. They are not going to tell the truth. Trump and his administration are playing them like a fiddle at the moment. The media do have to decide how to behave in the post-Trump era. I believe that the press have a responsibility to not simply repeat propaganda. They can not and must not act as censor. They cannot be scared of this administration. When the vice president of fucking Poynter claims that “Americans [don’t] have the tools that they need in order to make up their own mind” on information like this: then you’ve got something fucking wrong going on. It is not the media’s job to decide if Americans can cope with this information. It is not the media’s job to be a propaganda arm of the Trump Administration. If the media is going to throw buzzfeed under the bus because it released a credible document that everybody (except the American people) had already seen (and would have been leaked eventually anyway) then your country is fucked. The press are “standing together” at the moment for the most part. But as the Trump administration applies the screws: shuts off access to some outlets and plays favours with others, there will be an instinct to turn on each other. Everybody needs to realize the game that is being played right now and decide if we are going to play by Trumps rules: or if we are going to stand our ground. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161/40 "2017-01-15T08:59:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Why is it a false equivocation? …why do think this story and Pizzagate are comparable? Here is a New York Times story about Pizzagate. > **[Dissecting the #PizzaGate Conspiracy Theories (Published 2016)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/10/business/media/pizzagate.html)** > > PizzaGate: How a rumor grew into a fake news storm tailor-made for the internet. It is full of unverified information. None of it was censored by the New York Times because they didn’t believe “Americans could handle it.” Primary sources are linked to and displayed. Some of it isn’t even debunked. None of it was kept secret. The media for the most part didn’t even acknowledge the existence of the Steele Dossier. They implied that “something existed”. Bits and pieces of the story were released at varying times over the last few months. But it wasn’t until Buzzfeed released the dossier that all the “bits and pieces” that had been released finally made sense. > [@](#): > > If I remember “All the Presidents Men” correctly, that damn editor forced Robert “Woodward” Redford to confirm his story before he would run it. Too bad Ben Bradlee didn’t work for a website more known for listicles than for news! “All the Presidents Men” was a movie. Robert Redford was an actor. Watergate was a real thing. If you think Watergate and this story have commonalities then make that case. But a superficial comparison to a movie is not a substitute for an actual argument. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buzzfeed-were-right-to-publish-christopher-steeles-trump-dossier/777161.md?page=3)