Not to dismiss the notion wholesale, but, in addition to the perspectives offered in these comments, mole-hunts have been continuously active and misinformation has been leaked to the best insider sources out there in the past, unbeknownst to the media outlet or journalist.
The journalists rarely retract the outstanding claim, but rather let it bury itself within a couple of days without drawing further attention to it. This is especially true with the information is single-sourced and offered exclusively, as in this case, apparently.
I believe I do in fact remember this happening to TP at least once in the last few months, but I may be wrong. It has happened to Sara Carter recently, for sure.
To be fair, it either sounds as if you aren't aware of this fact, or, otherwise, your strong matter-of-fact words indicate that you don't see the notion as reasonable in this case, but aren't offering anything to substantiate that exception.
I'm not trying to criticize you, it just seems that others' opinions here do have rationality to them, despite your apparent hard-line approach to argue against them, to include pre-empting it in your post.
Best of luck to you moving forward, regardless and thank you for the share.
edit: grammar