The mainstream media have a long history of hiring Democrat operatives to parade around as “journalists.”

Perhaps the most noteworthy case is George Stephanopoulos, who worked for Bill Clinton and now spends his time being a biased hack on ABC News while posing as their chief anchor. There are of course plenty of others, although usually most outlets have enough shame to make them “analysts” instead of presenting them as objective reporters. This is how you end up with Andrew McCabe commenting on his own coming prosecution.

Of course, no one has ever accused CNN of having any standards, so they hired Jim Sciutto right out of the Obama administration to be their “Chief National Security Correspondent.” While in that role, Sciutto has spent the past three years pretending the Steele Dossier was credible. In fact, he’s been somewhat of a champion of the discredited document.

Jim Sciutto defended the Steele dossier and FBI more than any other journalist on TV. The IG report showed him to be colossally wrong. Here are his greatest hits. https://t.co/fufB6FBU9G

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) December 13, 2019

Perhaps more than any other journalist, CNN’s Jim Sciutto has championed the Steele dossier, asserting in news articles and on-air segments that the FBI had verified central parts of the salacious document, and that the bureau would have corroborated the information before using it in applications for surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Sciutto reported Feb. 10, 2017, that U.S. officials had “corroborated some” parts of the dossier. He insisted Dec. 26, 2017, in a broadcast that the FBI would have corroborated information in the report before using it to spy on Page.

Sciutto, a former Obama State Department official, made a similar argument Feb. 2, 2018, after it was revealed that the FBI obtained three additional surveillance warrants on Page. Sciutto said the renewals would have been granted only if the FBI had “gained valuable intelligence” from wiretapping the former Trump aide. And Jan. 7, 2019, Sciutto said it was a “fact” that the FBI had corroborated some of the dossier.

All of those claims were showed to be misleading or outright false in a Justice Department inspector general’s report released Monday.

There are more instances of Sciutto pushing misleading or outright false information regarding the dossier (and Russia investigation in general) than can be easily counted. More of them are chronicled in The Daily Caller’s article.

On a broader note, Sciutto provides a masterclass in why partisan political officials shouldn’t become “journalists,” and it’s a phenomenon that typically only cuts one way. CNN isn’t rushing to hire former Trump officials to pose as objective journalists. But the Obama administration has been fertile ground.

The conflict of interest should have been obvious from the get go. Being in the position he was in, is it any wonder Sciutto would want to cover up for the misdeeds of his former boss? Fluffing the Steele Dossier was a perfectly predictable response from someone compromised in such a way. And even as the dossier became exposed for the dumpster fire it was, Sciutto still took to the airwaves to prop it up and pretend the sky wasn’t blue.

There’s also the issue of hypocrisy. Imagine if Fox News hired Stephen Miller as an immigration journalist. Anyone think Brian Stelter would be losing his mind over it? But if you were a partisan from the Obama club, you get treated like you aren’t actually a hack.

In the end, the lack of standards which shows itself across the mainstream media have crushed their ability to influence the public. That’s certainly a good thing given the biases they present.