ABC is sidelining investigative reporter Brian Ross for a month, without pay, due to his botched report claiming Donald Trump directed former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to contact Russian officials during Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign. During a guilty plea obtained in a federal probe investigation, Flynn admitted to lying to the FBI about contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition period between Obama and Trump’s administrations.
However, filings from the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn’t allege any contact during the campaign itself, nor did they directly implicate Trump. No other news outlets reported that Trump directed Flynn to contact Russian officials during the election either. Nevertheless, the report had far-reaching effects, as the The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 300 points, likely indicating the news sparked fears about what an impeachment would do to the economy.
If Trump had directed Flynn to contact Russian officials during the election, it almost certainly would been an impeachable offense. Although, it doesn’t seem like Trump needs help in that department. There is speculation that President Trump all but cooked himself by tweeting what read like a textbook case of obstruction of justice Saturday.
CORRECTION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* -- initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZTu2K pic.twitter.com/URLiHf3uSm
As it relates to ABC, the network issued a formal correction about Ross’ report Friday, indicating that some form of punishment would be handed down. The story was updated with information from an unnamed Flynn confidant. Despite having to correct an erroneous report that sent the stock market tumbling, ABC added more info obtained from the anonymous confidant.
Trump has been increasingly critical of news outlets that don’t give him flattering coverage, often referring to them as “fake news.” With Ross’ botched report providing something that could actually be categorized as "fake news," Trump took to his preferred medium for a victory lap.
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!
“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!” Trump tweeted.
All of this comes as CIA Director Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that the responses to President Trump’s often-inflammatory tweets were “helpful to us to understand command and control issues.”
