ABC News suspends investigative reporter over erroneous Flynn report

United States' ABC News has suspended the chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, for four weeks without pay over an erroneous report about former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the network announced.

The network said in a statement, "We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process," CNN reported.

"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," the statement added.

During a live "special report" on Friday, citing a single anonymous source, Ross reported that Flynn would testify that Trump had ordered him to make contact with Russians about foreign policy while Trump was still a candidate.

Later in the day, ABC News issued a "clarification" to Ross's report, saying that Trump's alleged directive came post he'd been elected president.

Ross himself appeared on 'World News Tonight' several hours after the initial report to clarify his error.

"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," ABC's statement added.

"My job is to hold people accountable and that's why I agree with being held accountable myself," Ross tweeted about his suspension.

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