US President-elect Donald Trump denied allegations made in an unverified report published by news website BuzzFeed and slammed his opponents for taking “one last shot” in an attack described as resembling life in “Nazi Germany.”

Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to "leak" into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017

Trump accused “crooked opponents” of leading a political witch hunt by spreading “FAKE NEWS” designed to damage the businessman-turned-politician.

I win an election easily, a great "movement" is verified, and crooked opponents try to belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017

Trump also flat-out rejected allegations that Russia leveraged information against him.

These allegations took center stage Wednesday when the president-elect – due to enter the White House in nine days – had his first formal press conference with reporters in six months.

READ MORE: Trump says he has ‘no deals, no loans, no nothing’ with Russia amidst new scandal



Despite BuzzFeed failing to verify the report, a number of establishment figures and Hillary Clinton insiders amplified the claims to their substantial social media following.

Evan McMullin, a former Republican who ran for president as an independent, boasted he had warned about a Trump-Russia connection on CNN in September.

In September, I warned that Putin might be blackmailing Trump on CNN. It was mostly dismissed at the time. https://t.co/RTNtHHH1KZ — Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) January 10, 2017 Putin, with thousands of nuclear warheads aimed at USA, probably has enough to blackmail our next president. Let that sink in. Motive? Found — John Weaver (@JWGOP) January 10, 2017

While much of the media passed on covering the claims, Clinton loyalists jumped on them, taking the opportunity to partake in a self-congratulatory round of ‘I told you so’.

One last thought: Every reporter who breathlessly reported Wikileaks, you were solid Russia tools. And they knew you would be. #neverforget — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 11, 2017 If you doubt the report, demand an independent bipartisan commission with subpoena power for majority and minority. #getthefacts — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 11, 2017 I remember so many tweets like this urging caution about overreading leaks on Hillary email stories.



Yeah just kidding. https://t.co/mOfqAEGl9M — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 11, 2017

Clinton adviser Neera Tanden insinuated Republican “support” for Trump and his failure to release his taxes were further evidence of the story.

1 GOP platform makes sharp turn to support Russia

2 Trump supports Russian posture on NATO, Syria, Ukraine

3.Trump never releases his taxes — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 11, 2017

She claimed Trump “went after” intelligence agencies because “he knew what they had,” and dismissed Trump’s denials of the claims.

Friends, Trump went after intel agencies because he knew what they had; preparing his base to not listen. It's own confirmation. — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 11, 2017

She also pointed to Trump’s appearance on Larry King’s show on RT.

"Russia said"...pardon me if I don't take their word for it. https://t.co/AuUJlThRuv — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 11, 2017

Other former Clinton aides and campaign staff spread the narrative across social media.

Could we really go from our first black male president to our first blackmailed president? — Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) January 10, 2017 What. Did. He. Know. And. When. Did. He. Know. It. — Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) January 10, 2017

Former Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon called for Trump to be “interrogated” about Russia at his upcoming press conference, and urged the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to investigate the allegations.

Mitch McConnell, you must let a Select Committee investigate these allegations, as @SenJohnMcCain has been urging for weeks — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 11, 2017 If this is fake news, Trump should go ahead with news conference tomorrow, answer questions in full & put it to resthttps://t.co/CdurgCqYgC — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 11, 2017 No matter what he tweets in next 24 hours, Trump must be interrogated about Russia more than anything else at his press conference tomorrow — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 10, 2017

He also criticized journalists for not publishing the unverified report.

Today has brought a gush of reporting that outlets knew about and sat on prior to November 8

cc: @GlenCaplin1https://t.co/XXW7aS8NL4 — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 11, 2017 I repeat: certain media outlets were told this prior to November 8.https://t.co/CX63guAJEB — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 11, 2017

Clinton spokesperson Josh Schwerin implied that if Trump had released his tax returns, he would not have been able to be blackmailed.

There’s a reason all pres candidates traditionally release tax returns and have full financial transparency. Blackmail should be impossible — Josh Schwerin (@JoshSchwerin) January 10, 2017

Other prominent commentators, writers and Clinton loyalists appeared to relish the news, with some focusing on the salacious details of the dossier.

GET. THE. HELL. OUTTA. HERE… I cannot… What did I just read?… https://t.co/RR4lqMwGdu — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 11, 2017 Guys, what if Trump never serves a day because he was being bribed by Russia? LET ME JUST FEEL THIS WAY FOR A MINUTE — Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) January 10, 2017 I can't wait for the Yelps for that hotel room in Russia to start rolling in. — Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) January 11, 2017

Clinton talking head Star Jones equated the Trump story with Clinton’s email scandal, and later claimed BuzzFeed’s story being deemed “fake news” was an example of chickens coming home to roost, as “TRUMP campaign & election was built on BS #fakenews.”