ABC News on Saturday suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay for his fake news report connecting Michael Flynn to President Donald Trump, which it called a “serious error.”
Trump says that’s not good enough — and has called for the public to help him destroy the liberal network through a series of lawsuits.
When ABC News falsely reported Friday that then-candidate Donald Trump had directly directed Flynn to make contact with the Russians, the U.S. stock market crashed over 350 points. Now, Trump suggested that anyone negatively effected should sue ABC News for the losses — a sum of “many millions of dollars” that could potentially bankrupt the liberal news network.
People who lost money when the Stock Market went down 350 points based on the False and Dishonest reporting of Brian Ross of @ABC News (he has been suspended), should consider hiring a lawyer and suing ABC for the damages this bad reporting has caused – many millions of dollars!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
Ross report was an explosive development in the longrunning liberal conspiracy theory which claims, without evidence, that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the election. Hours later, Ross corrected his faked report on the evening news, saying that his source admitted Trump had not done so as a candidate.
In reality, Trump had asked Flynn to contact the Russians about issues including working together to fight ISIS during the transition from former President Barack Obama’s administration, an act that’s very common among incoming presidential administrations.
ABC was widely criticized for their fake report.
“We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday,” the network said in a statement Saturday. “The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process. As a result of our continued reporting over the next several hours ultimately we determined the information was wrong and we corrected the mistake on air and online.
“It is vital we get the story right and retain the trust we have built with our audience — these are our core principles. We fell far short of that yesterday. Effective immediately, Brian Ross will be suspended for four weeks without pay.”
The news brought swift reaction from Trump, who tweeted —
Congratulations to @ABC News for suspending Brian Ross for his horrendously inaccurate and dishonest report on the Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt. More Networks and “papers” should do the same with their Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
Ross, 69, joined the network in 1994.
During his tenure at ABC News, Ross was repeatedly criticized by both conservatives and his fellow journalists for consistent errors and outright lies.
Former State Department spokesperson Marie Harf went on Fox News Sunday to detail Ross’ shameful history.
Marie Harf says Brian Ross routinely ran stories that were not accurate. "This was a big screw-up, but he has a long history of screwing up."
— #MediaBuzz (@MediaBuzzFNC) December 3, 2017
In just one example, ABC News had to apologize in 2012 when Ross reported on “Good Morning America” that James Holmes, the suspect in the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, might be connected to the Tea Party, based on a name listed on a web page. It turned out to be a different “Jim Holmes.” Ross was never punished for politicizing the story with the error.
In another, Ross falsely reported that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was behind the 2001 mail anthrax attacks. There was never evidence to back-up those claims, which were quietly retracted a week later.
After decades of liberal bias, Trump’s plan to sue ABC News could finally offer frustrated Americans the chance to hold the mainstream media accountable — and punish their lies.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article