I don’t know Dean personally, but again I have followed him on here and on twitter for a long time. I wouldn’t call him “an insider,” but I do believe (through his work) he has become close enough to converse with people who know stuff. That’s the best I can describe it.
BTW...he has not responded in any fashion to the flurry of replies he has received from this tweet. His lack of response, to me, is quite interesting.