The following is an excerpt of my story at Just the News.
When it comes to misinformation, disinformation and the now-disproven Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy theory, it would not have been possible without a strong dose of media support.
Here is a timeline that breaks out some important reports by — and leaks to — the news media.
March 25, 2016:
Ukrainian-American operative for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Alexandra Chalupa meets with top Ukrainian officials at Ukrainian Embassy in Washington D.C. to “expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia,” according to Politico. Ukrainian embassy proceeds to work “directly with reporters researching Trump, Manafort and Russia to point them in the right directions,” according to an embassy official (though other officials later deny engaging in election-related activities).
March 30, 2016:
Chalupa briefs DNC staff on Russia ties to Manafort and Trump. Ukrainian embassy officials and Chalupa “coordinat[e] an investigation with the Hillary team” into Manafort, according to a source in Politico. This effort reportedly includes working with U.S. media.
April 2016:
Ukrainian member of parliament Olga Bielkova reportedly seeks meetings with five dozen members of U.S. Congress and reporters including former New York Times reporter Judy Miller, David Sanger of New York Times, David Ignatius of Washington Post, and Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt.
(Continued…)
Read the entire timeline by clicking the link below:
The media making of a conspiracy: Timeline.
