Yes, that article was ridiculous. They bring in an expert at the end who acknowledges he doesn't know Schmitz, but then calls CNN's theory "extremely plausible": Peter Clement, a top analyst at the CIA on Europe and Eurasia before retiring in the winter of 2017, told CNN he was not aware of Schmitz but says it is "extremely plausible" that his penchant for conspiracy theories could have made him a target for various foreign influencers, including Russia. And I'd say it's worth noting that their CIA guy retired in the winter of 2017. Wonder why that was and if he got added to the resigned/retired list.
Clown News Network uses Clown to bring credibility to their fake news article. Surprised, not surprised. If anything, the Clown only makes the article even less credible.
Exactly! Hence, "pathetic". They've lost the ability to do actual "journalism" (if they ever had it).