“Two intelligence officials told NBC News this week that [Shelby Pierson, who led the briefing] did not tell lawmakers that intelligence showed Russia was actively working to help the president’s reelection campaign,” the report adds.

So that New York Times “bombshell” report, which Democrats latched on to immediately to accuse Trump of being a “puppet” of Russia, traces back to Democrats who overstated or misunderstood what they were told in an intelligence briefing?

How many news cycles based on dubious or misleading “insider” information from anonymous sources are we going to go through before journalists start applying some rigor? People complain that the Trump era is tiring, but what’s really tiring are these five-alarm news cycles based entirely on anonymous sources. Too many of these stories end up imploding, leaving readers even more distrustful of the news media than they were to begin with.