If ever a snare were set for a conspiracy theorist, it would most certainly be the “Steele dossier” released for public consumption by BuzzFeed in January of last year, alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. It has the perfect ingredients for a conspiracy: opposition research on a political candidate collected by a former British spy that makes unverified claims of collusion, weird sexual behavior, and so on.
A memo released by Devin Nunes last week brought the dossier in focus again, claiming that it “formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application.” Page is a former Trump campaign adviser who was known to have extensive business ties to Russia.
Like flies to honey, clicks swarmed to conspiratorial news on the dossier.
Some of the most outrageous headlines claim that Sen. John McCain “helped fund FBI plot to frame Trump; backed bogus Russian Trump Dossier” and have gained popularity on Facebook. The website Right Speach [sic] cited “court documents and new source Intel” that, as the site claims, “raise suspicions that McCain may have chipped in financially with the FBI or privately funded the counterfeit research, either himself or through his shady foundation.”
Right Speach cites allegations by True Pundit and Judicial Watch from September that alleged only the FBI helped fund the dossier, not that McCain helped fund the FBI’s efforts. Those reports have never actually been proved.
Furthermore, Right Speach provides no “court documents” that demonstrate the odd accusation that McCain “helped fund [an] FBI plot to frame Trump.” The article concludes by asking an array of strange questions:
Instead of providing evidence, Right Speach poses conspiratorial questions to the reader, begging for confusion and a lack of clarity to convince us of shady dealings.
If you have questions about this fact check, or would like to submit a request for another fact check, email Holmes Lybrand at [email protected] or the Weekly Standard at [email protected]. For details on TWS Fact Check, see our explainer here.
