In an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd, Buzzfeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith didn't have a prayer trying to defend publishing an intel report known to be unverified, containing disparaging info on President-elect Donald Trump.

Though none of Todd's merciless shellacking of Smith had more to do with Buzzfeed letting the media bias cat out of the bag than protecting journalistic integrity, Todd still did not disappoint.  

According to Smith, Buzzfeed published nothing false because people in the intelligence community had the report already and it had been circulated to people in government. 

"[T]his was a document that was not just circulating at the highest levels of the intelligence community," he began, "the most powerful intelligence officials in the country referring to it in briefings...And I think -- and we didn’t just have it. We're starting to act on it."

Todd pushed back, suggesting that Smith intentionally spread false information while putting the burden on the readers to judge its validity.  

"You talk about context and you talk about putting responsibility on the readers, but at the same time, don't you have a responsibility for not spreading false information?" Todd asked. "Are you knowingly spreading false information?"

Smith denied it, saying the organization acted within perfectly ethical journalistic standards by publishing an unverified intel report about Trump's alleged proclivity for "golden showers" in Russian state bedrooms, saying it's the same as media outlets covering Trump's allegation that Barack Obama had a fake birth certificate.

"As with the Obama birth certificate thing during the Obama campaign, this is an incredibly difficult balance that everybody in our business navigates every day," Smith argued. The conversation continued as follows:

TODD: But you’re not publishing a false — you’re not publishing —

SMITH: You are quoting people saying — you are quoting people, whether it’s —

TODD: — I understand, but did you publish a false birth certificate? 

SMITH: You are — we certainly quoted the president-elect of the United States making false claims about it and years ago, we debated whether we should quote regular citizens in Iowa saying, you know, I don't believe his birth certificate and I remember us thinking at first, we probably shouldn’t, that we shouldn't pass that on and then saying, you know what? This has become a force that is impacting the conversation, the information environment, fake news are now these — they are factors in the conversation.

TODD: But haven't you just participated?

After this back and forth, Todd asserted that Buzzfeed published "fake news" and that they should just come clean -- meaning, "take one for the team" so the media can get back to spreading lies while parading themselves as objective. 

"I know this was not your intent, I've known you a long time, but you just published fake news," Todd concluded.