BuzzFeed faced ridicule and biting criticism after publishing a flimsy and unsubstantiated dossier linking President-elect Donald Trump with the Russian government and cataloguing putatively lewd behavior — without any solid evidence or investigation of the startling accusations.

Now, it appears the decision may be even more foolhardy than it first seemed, as Trump wrote in a tweet on Thursday:

"James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated. Made up, phony facts.Too bad!"

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper did, indeed, discuss the contentious report with the president-elect on Wednesday evening, and released a press statement, in essence, condemning mainstream media's careless handling of unsubstantiated and sensitive information:

"This evening, I had the opportunity to speak with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss recent media reports about our briefing last Friday. I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security.

"We also discussed the private security company document, which was widely circulated in recent months among the media, members of Congress and Congressional staff even before the IC became aware of it. I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC. The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions. However, part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security."

Although Clapper's statement doesn't exactly denounce the dossier as "phony facts," his criticism and the fact intelligence officials have not deemed it "reliable" erode even further BuzzFeed's feckless and inexplicable choice to run the report.