Trump took to Twitter this morning to defend himself from accusations that Russian operatives claim to have the goods on him and that because of that could be compromised:
Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is "A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE." Very unfair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
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
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
At this point all we know from CNN is, via a credible third party, that Russian operatives CLAIM to have the goods on Trump. We don’t know what those claims might be as they aren’t verified or known.
Honestly, I get why Trump would be defensive about this. He’s just won an election and hasn’t even stepped into the Oval Office and yet all this negative reporting on him keeps coming up. Plus you’ve got some irresponsible news outfits running unverified rumors about what those claims might be that are just trying to fan the flames.
Trump obviously takes all of this as attempts to delegitimize and belittle his victory.
I guess whether there is any truth to these claims remains to be seen.