BuzzFeed editor ‘proud’ to have published Trump dossier

WASHINGTON – BuzzFeed’s top editor says he’s “proud” that the organization published an uncorroborated dossier about Donald Trump and his presidential campaign.

Ben Smith writes in an opinion column in The New York Times that it’s clear “the dossier is unquestionably real news.”

Smith argues that the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election has become the “central challenge to Mr. Trump’s presidency.” He says publishing the dossier last year was in the “public interest.”

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has released a transcript from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s August interview with a co-founder of a political opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier.

After that release Tuesday, a Trump lawyer filed lawsuits against BuzzFeed and the research firm for damaging and inflammatory statements.