OK...so here's how we handle the argument that "Dems did it, too."

[WinstonSmith4740]

I had to turn off the sound because I was getting ready to puke, but from what I did hear, the Rethugs in the form of Kevin McCarthy are throwing the Steele dossier out there to muddy the waters...Adam Schiff took info from a foreign source, blah, blah, blah.

You guys will correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that Steele's report was in response to "Never Trump" Republicans who were trying to get dirt to stop Trump from getting the nomination. When they realized they weren't going to stop him, they offered up the info they had gotten to the Clinton campaign. So it was never the Dems in the first place who turned to a foreign source (not government, BTW)...it was Republicans trying to save their party from a lunatic.

But then again, this being brought up would actually involve research and remembering stuff on the part of journalists. Not sure that's gonna happen. Instead, I can see them constantly bringing this up as "both sides do it".

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Commissioned by the conservative Washington Free Beacon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump%E2%80%93Russia_dossier

The Trump–Russia dossier, also known as the Steele dossier, is a private intelligence report written from June to December 2016 containing allegations of misconduct and conspiracy between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Government of Russia during the 2016 election. The dossier comprises 17 memos and was authored by Christopher Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6), for the private investigative firm Fusion GPS. The report alleged that Trump campaign members and Russian operatives conspired to interfere in the election to benefit Trump. It also alleged that Russia sought to damage Hillary Clinton's candidacy, including sharing negative information about Clinton with the Trump campaign. The dossier was published in full by BuzzFeed on January 10, 2017. Several mainstream media outlets criticized BuzzFeed's decision to release it without verifying its allegations, while others defended its release.

In October 2015, Fusion GPS was contracted by conservative political website The Washington Free Beacon to provide general opposition research on Trump and other Republican presidential candidates. In April 2016, attorneys for Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC separately hired Fusion GPS to investigate Trump, while The Free Beacon stopped its backing in May of 2016. In June 2016, Fusion GPS subcontracted Steele's firm to compile the dossier. Clinton campaign officials were reportedly unaware that Fusion GPS had subcontracted Steele, and he was not told that the Clinton campaign was the recipient of his research. Following Trump's election as president, funding from Clinton and the DNC ceased, but Steele continued his research and was reportedly paid directly by Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn R. Simpson. While compiling the dossier, Steele passed information to both British and American intelligence services.

The media, the intelligence community, and most experts have treated the dossier with caution due to its unverified allegations, while Trump has denounced it as fake news. Russian intelligence agencies have sought to create doubt about the veracity of the dossier. The U.S. intelligence community took the allegations seriously. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) investigated every line of the dossier and spoke with two of Steele's sources. The Mueller Report, a summary of the findings of the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, contained passing references to some of the dossier's allegations but little mention of its more sensational claims. Some allegations of the dossier have been corroborated, however much of the dossier remains unverified. One allegation was rejected by the Mueller Report.

Contrary to repeated assertions by Trump, Fox News, and many of his supporters, the dossier was not the impetus for the opening of the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" counterintelligence investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign.

</snip>

[Baltimike]

3. False equivalence. nt

[PatSeg]

4. Yes, you're right

The Steele dossier was first commissioned by republicans and most importantly though, it did not come from a foreign government or people representing a foreign government. Democrats need to keep repeating this over and over again.

[ScratchCat]

5. This is so false equivalency

First, there are several important points to understand.

Donald Trump had NO HISTORY OF PUBLIC SERVICE.

Donald Trump has a history of MAKING PEOPLE SIGN NDA's.

Donald Trump has international businesses and INTERNATIONAL LOANS

Donald Trump REFUSED TO RELEASE HIS TAXES

and lastly

The Republicans REFUSED TO TELL HIM "NO, YOU ARE NOT A REPUBLICAN"

You had a man who could not be vetted by a history of public service, who refused to release his taxes and threatened to sue anyone who said something negative about him.

Neither party ever tried before to run a candidate who was SO OBVIOUSLY hiding financially compromising information. This had nothing to do with any previous election and nothing with any future election. This was the Never Trumpers trying their damndest to convince the party to dump this criminal and they were thwarted by the stupid media who continually gave him free air time and insisted he be the GOP candidate.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. Jeb-Mutherfuckin-Bush. Then John - Did you know he was Megan's dad? - McCain passed

it on to the FBI.

[Doodley]

7. Plus the dirt on Hillary Clinton was via stolen emails.

[Gothmog]

8. The Steele Dossier is not from a government or governmental agency