The argument isn't just that it proved to be untrue but is also based on ex-agency heads leaking false information (at least some of which they would have known

The argument isn't just that it proved to be untrue but is also based on ex-agency heads leaking false information (at least some of which they would have known was false) and playing up the untrue accusations in the press as the investigation proceeded. See the rest of this book on substack and many of his Rolling Stone articles in the past few years for much more detail on this aspect.