The dossier published by BuzzFeed detailing sordid claims against President-elect Donald Trump were circulated to but not verified by traditional media outlets, including NBC News, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Further, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program that even a senior intelligence official source he spoke to had no knowledge of the events outlined in the unsubstantiated dossier.

"We've been chasing (the story) … never been able to close the book on it," Brokaw said on the show.

According to Brokaw, the intelligence official he took it to said, "I have no idea that there's something like this going on."

The Post's David Ignatius told the "Morning Joe" panel that he first heard about the dossier "some weeks ago" but that his organization was also unable to verify the story and hence, hasn't reported it.

"We've done what news organizations should do — try to verify it. We've not been able to do that," Ignatius said.

Both Brokaw and Ignatius were surprised that some of the contents of the dossier were part of a briefing to Trump and President Barack Obama, given that the veracity of the contents were in doubt.

Regardless, Ignatius said it should be investigated, debunked and reported by U.S. attorneys, Congress or the FBI.

"We're now a country that's just buzzing with all this allegation, insinuation, that's not a good ground for a president to take office on," Ignatius said. "It is in Trump's interest to have a responsible, discreet inquiry. …

"If that investigation doesn't exist, we'll have a substantial part of the country believing this is true; another substantial part of the country agreeing with Trump that it's an outrageous witch hunt and that's not a good way for a president to start his term."