The problem with this kind of reporting is that we don’t know if it’s a reliable source or someone spouting off but who has no insight, or has an ulterior agenda.
This is how narratives work best. You mock something up, give it some gravitas and hope it grows legs.
Sometimes you get “the pentagon papers” other times you get a “Steele dossier”… it’s hard to tell the two apart but in retrospect.
Not really the same thing as “half a tweet and a daydream of an editor”.