It’s not the first time that a highly regarded media outlet has run with a conspiracy theory that involved Trump and Russia. It’s not even the first time one ran after being passed over by other media outlets. Shortly before the election, Slate ran a piece suggesting that Trump maintained a kind of secret digital revolving door with Russia. More skeptical and tech savvy reporters found that the likelier explanation was that it was a chatty email marketing server.
Some commentators have attributed the appearance of the BuzzFeed story to a retaliation campaign against Trump by America’s intelligence agencies. If this is true, it’s even more dangerous. Elected leaders assert civilian control over the the state. If people in these agencies dislike the president so much, they should resign in protest, not use their offices to inflict damage on him.
Of course it is tempting to play dirty pool with Trump. A journalist who thinks he is halting the rise of fascism in America will of course find plenty of excuses for sinking to Trump’s level. Trump lies and enflames all the time. Trump spread the delegitimizing and racist conspiracy theory that his predecessor was born in Kenya. He encouraged his supporters in “Lock Her Up” chants against Hillary Clinton, which was both inflammatory and a lie he had no intention of prosecuting.
But our institutions can’t temporarily suspend the very standards that grant them credibility and expect to survive.
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