It seems the rate at which members of the press are circulating misleading "breaking news" stories alleging some nefarious action by the Trump administration has actually gotten worse since the inauguration.

On Thursday, NBC News' Peter Alexander claimed the new White House had eased restrictions on Russia so that U.S. companies could go into business with the Federal Security Service.

As Alexander also noted to his nearly 100,000 followers on social media, the FSB is the successor of the dreaded KGB.







Media on the Left and Right soon parroted his shocking claim, and the notion that the Trump administration had eased up restrictions on the former KGB spread quickly all over social media.

Atlantic columnist David Frum remarked, "This is happening as Russia intensifies its war on Ukraine, including rocketing civilian population concentrations. The case grows ever stronger for an independent commission to investigate Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election," he added.

Mother Jones' David Corn added separately, "This is crazy. The FSB, according to our own intelligence community, plotted to subvert the 2016 election. Now it is rewarded."

He added, "Dems should go ballistic over this. So should McCain, Graham & Rubio & anyone who gives a damn about the sanctity of American democracy."

"[N]ot even pretending that russian [sic] doens't [sic] own us at this point," said Genius senior writer Insanul Ahmed.

Blogger Keith Olbermann, of course, weighed in with his usual bluster, saying "The FSB is the Russian spy agency. You know, the one [Trump] claims he's not working for or being blackmailed by #Disloyal."

Etcetera, etcetera.

Before these hot takes had a chance to cool, however, NBC's Alexander tweeted out a rather important follow-up to his initial supposed scoop: "NEW: Source familiar w sanctions says it's a technical fix, planned under Obama, to avoid unintended consequences of cybersanctions."



Oh.

First, as noted elsewhere by the New York Times' Peter Baker, the proposed fix was in the works long before Trump took office.

"Treasury action on Russian sanctions was a technical fix initiated by career officials when Obama was still in office, not a Trump move," he said.

Second, the actual explanation for what happened is far more complicated and far less nefarious.

Eric Lorber, who is a consultant for the Financial Integrity Network, explains the boring details.

Some analysis from my colleague @ELforeignpolicy on the new Treasury General License re: FSB pic.twitter.com/z7sMZKSvWv — Boris Zilberman (@rolltidebmz) February 2, 2017



Put more plainly, the fix is to, "facilitate what is otherwise permissible exports of tech goods to Russia."

Stop the presses indeed.

Though certain reporters and experts stepped forward to explain the facts of the matter, bitters partisans, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, seized on the idea that Trump had somehow "repaid" Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly.

Vladimir Putin’s thugs meddle with an American election, and President Trump gives them a thank you present. https://t.co/ID01aS21nM pic.twitter.com/vAiGYWNbIu — Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) February 2, 2017



Now it's the narrative. Solid work, everyone.