Trump calls report alleging ties with Russia a 'total political witch hunt'


Hours after a dossier put together by an alleged former British intelligence official was published online, claiming that the Russian government has been "cultivating, supporting, and assisting" Donald Trump, the president-elect went on Twitter to denounce the document.
"FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" Trump tweeted. He followed this message with a retweet from the account of Michael Cohen, his special counsel, who the unverified dossier said met secretly with Kremlin officians last August in the Czech capital. Cohen tweeted a picture of the front of a U.S. passport and the caption, "I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews." He did not explain how showing the cover of a passport proves he has never stepped foot in Prague.
BuzzFeed News posted the report on Tuesday afternoon, making it clear that the claims inside were unverified. The document has been making the rounds for months, with many elected officials, intelligence agents, and journalists having read it, and contains several allegations about sex acts as well as errors regarding company names and Russian neighborhoods.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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