The outlets all echoed the same leak by one “supply chain specialist”.

None of them were from confirmed sources or even cross referenced.

As for a commissioner seriously reacting to it; your local police department is more professional when it comes to commenting on active investigations.

They mainly act like politicians that want to look though in crime. Vestager is a great example of how much PR the average commissioner is willing to utilize, even when they get wiped out of court.

Apple still hasn't denied or even commented on the matter, even though it could play a very significant role on future potential antitrust cases against Apple. Also, it's worth noting that Apple has a long and rich history of public campaigns against many of those "conspiracy theories" and this USB-C case is a rare exception.

Apple doesn't need to issue a denial for every conspiracy theory that rolls around. The fact that people are still bringing up a mere rumor as if it's true definitely lends credence to this being nothing more than a conspiracy theory.