If you’re a reader of this blog, you’ll likely remember the story by BuzzFeed reporters Jason Leonard and Anthony Cormier back in January which said President Trump had directed his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower project in Moscow.

Even if you didn’t read the original Buzzfeed story, you undoubtedly heard a lot about it after a statement was released by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller characterizing aspects of the story as “not accurate.” The story, and the special counsel’s statement, understandably sparked a hot debate, with the White House predictably calling it fake news, although at the time it could not be determined what parts of the story were being questioned.

But now that Mueller’s report has been publicly released, at least in redacted form, Ben Wittes of the Lawfare Blog has returned to the controversy with an interview with both reporters about what was wrong with the story, as well as what they got right (“The Lawfare Podcast: A BuzzFeed After-Action Report with Leopold and Cormier“).

The 54-minute podcast is a must-listen for reporters looking for a deep dive into the way that a bombshell story can go off track. In this case, one word made all the difference. Buzzfeed reported the president “explicitly” directed Cohen to lie, but when the smoke cleared, the direction was actually “implicit”, even though understood by Cohen, longtime personal attorney to Trump.

The reporters had what looked like solid sources, including two law enforcement personnel who took part in the investigation, and even had obtained notes of an FBI interview with Cohen which said “DJT personally asked Cohen to say negotiations ended in January and White House counsel office knew Cohen would give false testimony to Congress. Sanctioned by DJT. Joint lawyer team reviewed letter Cohen sent to SSCI about his testimony about Trump Tower moscow, et al, knowing it contained lies.”

You’ll have to listen to the podcast, or read the explanation given by Buzzfeed editor Ben Smith, for the gory details.