REBUTTAL BY
The false accusations being leveled at Vladimir Putin and his phantom "hackers" are so preposterous that even Boobus Libtardus shouldn't need us to rebut this piece of "fake news." Nonetheless, this remains a very useful piece for analytical dissection because, when stripped naked, it features some of the classic tactical tricks often used by journalistic deceivers -- mainly, the "sell-the-sizzle-but-not-the-steak" marketing trick. By catching and exposing the subtle Sulzbergerian subterfuge of Messrs. Mark Mazzetti & Eric Lichtbblau (cough cough), we thereby inoculate the reader against future false stories which utilize the same mendacious magic.
Mazzetti & Lichtblau (author of "The Nazis Next Door") -- masters of journalistic sleight-of-hand.
Analysis: "based on what many believe" --- sounds impressive but tells us nothing. "Many" also believe that the allegation is false, and the word "believe" implies opinion, not hard evidence.
Sub-Headline: ... is overwhelming circumstantial evidence, ...
Analysis: And yet, this "overwhelming circumstantial evidence" -- (sizzle sizzle) -- has still not been released! We are left to blindly trust an unnamed (imaginary?) CIA source that the "evidence" is indeed "overwhelming."
Mazzetti & Lichtblau: American spy and law enforcement agencies were united in the belief, in the weeks before the presidential election, that the Russian government had deployed computer hackers to sow chaos during the campaign.
Analysis: "were united in the belief" --- apart from being an untrue statement, that claim still does not provide the reader with any evidence of the "Russian hacking." Oh waiter --- Where is my damn steak, please?
Mazzetti & Lichtblau: Last week, Central Intelligence Agency officials presented lawmakers with a