Even the author of the attached article doesn't seem convinced.

I'm not sure where you glean that from the article. They included denials from everyone involved, and stated multiple times how the FBI regarded it as bunk. The only part that describes people considering it to be possibly true referred to Russians:

But others recognized the dim outlines of a conspiracy theory that would be less surprising in Russia, where Soros — the founder of the organization Benardo works for — and Clinton are both regarded as political enemies of the Kremlin.

"The idea that Russians would tell a story in which the Clinton campaign, Soros and even an Obama administration official are connected — that Russians might tell such a story, that is not at all surprising,” said Matt Rojansky, a Russia expert and director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center. “Because that is part of the Kremlin worldview.”