Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office discredits Buzzfeed story. (Screenshot)

Buzzfeed, currently facing backlash over a discredited report accusing the president of telling his lawyer to lie to Congress, once billed itself as the premier watchdog exposing fake news.

In an October 7, 2017 Axios article titled, “Buzzfeed takes on fake news,” Buzzfeed Editor Craig Silverman touted the organization’s commitment to investigating and debunking fake news:

"BuzzFeed News has a mission to cover all aspects of the internet, and the reality is that rumors, hoaxes, propaganda, and all manner of digital deception are a part of the internet," Craig Silverman, BuzzFeed News Media Editor tells Axios. "So we've taken on a global effort to investigate and debunk the false stuff, as well as to try and reveal who's behind it, and what role platforms and other players have in this whole ecosystem."

The Axios article declared Buzzfeed “a formidable source of hard news,” positioned “at the forefront of covering fake news and disinformation” by providing readers with trustworthy “fake news scoops”: