Over the weekend, we started seeing a bunch of tweeters all excited about a rumor that former NSA director Michael Flynn had cut a deal with the FBI and was about to flip on Donald Trump. HuffPo columnist Seth Abramson, for example (he has dozens of tweets on Flynn if you want to read them all):
(THREAD) BREAKING: Harvard professor and @CNN political analyst Juliette Kayyem says, per sources, Michael Flynn may have flipped on Trump. pic.twitter.com/kkG4h4gqvw
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 25, 2017
And others:
Huge news if true. Wouldn't be shocked by a footrace between Manafort and Flynn to get to the FBI first. https://t.co/9wMlgfKnbK
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 25, 2017
The committee investigating #RussiaGate said many Trump advisors will testify–but no Flynn. Some speculate the FBI is about to flip him.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 25, 2017
This boomlet appears to have started with a tweet from Harvard professor and CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem when she tweeted, “it looks like #Flynn may have a deal with the FBI”:
From my sources and what has been openly reported, it increasingly looks like #Flynn may have a deal with the FBI. #trumprussia pic.twitter.com/U0PHdexlFV
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) March 25, 2017
But then she walked the explosive claim back in this Facebook post. Now these sources are just “increasingly wondering” about it:
This isn’t how it’s supposed to work, guys:
To be clear, @juliettekayyem has posted on Facebook this her interpretation of what she's seeing, she has not confirmed this via reporting https://t.co/WP6W5bcbOZ
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) March 26, 2017
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Then she says on Facebook that her purported "sources" were merely "wondering" about whether there "may" be a Flynn/FBI deal. Solid stuff.
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 26, 2017
1) CNN "analyst" postulates a "deal" between Flynn/FBI
2) Twitter goes crazy
3) She admits it was wild speculation https://t.co/oSgV3NIZAZ— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 26, 2017
But the damage has already been done. Raw Story reported it as fact:
CNN analyst: Sources say Mike Flynn has turned on Trump and become a witness for the FBI https://t.co/e0af4bKGgT pic.twitter.com/3E0E2s0mkh
— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 26, 2017
And Keith Olbermann was busy congratulating Kayyem:
Congrats to @juliettekayyem. This is exactly the answer you do NOT give if you're Mike Flynn and you're NOT being by flipped by the FBI. https://t.co/lVTmIJl5p3
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 26, 2017
But it’s only “fake news” when it’s conservatives, right?
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