Remember The Dossier? You know, the extensive catalogue of the Donald Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia compiled by a former British intelligence agent? The one that launched a thousand "Pee Tape" jokes after BuzzFeed published it without verifying its authenticity, much to the chagrin of Trump and various media observers? Well, the president was watching Fox and Friends this morning, and the folks on The Great American Couch reminded him that thing is still out there. As any president would, he immediately tweeted a bunch of wild claims about it in the space of 140 characters.

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Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2017

If you're keeping score at home, the president is now questioning whether a federal law enforcement agency paid for a dossier on his ties to Russia, essentially organizing an information war against him—possibly in coordination with a foreign power and his domestic political adversaries. Does Trump have any proof of this he didn't find on Fox News? Well, let's see.

Fusion GPS, the Washington-based strategic intelligence firm that commissioned the dossier, has been turned into a political football—a shadowy organization that could be funded by anyone, Fox News will happily tell you. At the same time it was compiling the dossier, Fusion was doing separate work for American law firm Baker Hotstetler, which was defending Russia-linked Prevezon Holdings against a civil action from the U.S. government alleging fraud. This has been seized upon by Fox (and, thus, the president) as proof Fusion has Russian ties, even though it is quite common for Washington's hired guns to work on behalf of a diverse array of clients, some of which may even have somewhat contradictory interests.

The Fox-Trump claim got more ammunition with the revelation that Donald Trump, Jr.'s infamous meeting in Trump Tower looking for dirt on Hillary Clinton was with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was also working for Baker Hotstetler on the Prevezon case. But as The Washington Post broke down in detail, none of this is evidence that the firm took money from the Russian government at the time it was compiling the dossier. It is all innuendo. And Trump went a step further this morning: He implied the Russians paid for The Dossier directly. There isn't even innuendo to support that.

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Fusion did work for Planned Parenthood and possibly other left-leaning groups in the past, so Fox (and, thus, the president) have implied this means Fusion is in the tank for Democrats. But Vanity Fair has reported the dossier was initially commissioned by Fusion GPS with funding from a #NeverTrump Republican. Previously, reports held that some among Trump's Republican primary opponents funded Fusion's hiring of Christopher Steele, the former MI6 operative. But now all that's out the window. Fusion's partners have been called before Congress and are invoking the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions, so the Fox and Friends alarm bells are going off again—despite the fact that taking the Fifth is in no way an admission of guilt. In fact, it's probably wise when your questioners—the House Republicans—would likely throw you in jail to undermine the Russia probe.

"Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?"

Trump's claims here are actually a more extreme reformulation of a line from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, probably also based on reporting in conservative media, that has been debunked. So, too, has his claim that the dossier is "discredited and Fake." Some of the dossier's findings have been verified. Steele has given the FBI the identities of his sources so they can try to verify more, and he has also met with Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. Perhaps that last detail is why the president and his media apparatchiks are slamming The Dossier so hard. And as you might have noticed, all the talk about who funded the project proves nothing about whether what it found is accurate.

In other Presidential Communication News, the president tweeted, again, a long-debunked accusation about Hillary Clinton and a Uranium deal with Russia:

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Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn't want to follow! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2017

He also has taken to simply tweeting Fox and Friends headlines:

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.@foxandfriends "Russia sent millions to Clinton Foundation" — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2017

Isn't this fun?

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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