[toenail]

Reporter for media A writes something conjectural with a lot of "mays, mights, coulds, shoulds, woulds, ifs, etc."
Reporter for media B writes something and references reporter for media A as the source.
Reporter for media C writes something and validates the source as "in published reports."

Except that step 1 should read, "Reporter for media A gets a fax from some lobbying group, containing a lot of 'mays, mights, coulds, shoulds, woulds, ifs, etc.'"

[TomGuy]

Some days truth is stranger than fiction.

I rest my case:
Woman Keeps Dead Hubby in Passenger Seat of Her Car.