[sphinx]

(1) Fabricate a report, or watch one's political allies fabricate a report. (2) Leak the fabricated report to a friendly journalist. (3) Use the journalist's story as "confirmation" of the report. (4) Certify the fabrication as verified to the FISA court and use it as the basis for domestic espionage against a political opponent.

Got it.

[mmichaels1970]

(1) Fabricate a report, or watch one's political allies fabricate a report. (2) Leak the fabricated report to a friendly journalist. (3) Use the journalist's story as "confirmation" of the report. (4) Certify the fabrication as verified to the FISA court and use it as the basis for domestic espionage against a political opponent.

Yes. And the media reports on the media report. Then the media reports on that. An so on, and so on.

”Circular Reporting”. I like that term. It’s like a circular reference in computer programming. It spirals and grows until it crashes the computer.