The Propaganda FilesWashington Post Guts Its Stories Naming Millian as a Dossier Source
In 2017 and 2019 stories, The Washington Post identified businessman Sergei Millian as a key source for the Steele dossier, including its most lurid allegation about Trump.
Lent credibility to the Steele dossier and the Trump-Russia narrative.
What was reported
In 2017 and 2019 stories, The Washington Post identified businessman Sergei Millian as a key source for the Steele dossier, including its most lurid allegation about Trump.
What actually happened
After Special Counsel John Durham indicted dossier source Igor Danchenko in November 2021, the Post said it could no longer stand by those parts of its reporting. It removed large sections of both stories, changed the 2017 headline, deleted an accompanying video, and added editor's notes. About a dozen other Post stories repeating the claim were also amended. The stories were not fully retracted.
The proof
The Post's own editor's notes and its media reporter's account of the changes, prompted by the Danchenko indictment.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Washington Post Guts Its Stories Naming Millian as a Dossier Source — Retracted. The Post's own editor's notes and its media reporter's account of the changes, prompted by the Danchenko indictment. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/washington-post-steele-dossier-millian-corrections/
Original reporting
- Daily Beast: summary of the Post's Feb. 7, 2019 Millian story (secondary)https://www.thedailybeast.com/steele-dossiers-pee-tape-source-sergei-millian-sought-access-to-trump-in-2016-wapo
Corrections, findings & records
- Washington Post (via Stars and Stripes): Post corrects, removes parts of storieshttps://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2021-11-20/washington-post-corrects-removes-parts-stories-steele-dossier-3690775.html
- Mediaite: Post posts significant correctionshttps://www.mediaite.com/news/washington-post-posts-significant-corrections-to-two-reports-on-the-steele-dossier
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Daily Beast: summary of the Post's Feb. 7, 2019 Millian story (secondary)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.thedailybeast.com/steele-dossiers-pee-tape-source-sergei-millian-sought-access-to-trump-in-2016-wapo