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Faulty Flynn story leads ABC News to suspend reporter

ABC News suspended a journalist who erroneously reported Dec. 1 that former national security adviser Michael Flynn would testify that Donald Trump directed Flynn to make contact with Russian nationals during the U.S. presidential election campaign. Equity markets tumbled after the report.

Chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross subsequently corrected his report to state that Trump gave Flynn the order as president-elect. The president-elect wanted to discuss issues like coordinating with Russia to combat terrorist group ISIS, Ross clarified, citing an unnamed source.

ABC News apologized for what it called a "serious error" and suspended Ross without pay for four weeks.

Flynn pleaded guilty Dec. 1 to charges of lying to the FBI and said he would cooperate with an investigation into contacts with Russia by the incoming administration of President Trump. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 1.5% to 2605.02 after ABC News reported that as part of his deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Flynn would testify that Trump directed him to make contact with Russian nationals during his presidential candidacy. Markets largely recovered by the closing bell Friday. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, a measure of shareholder concern, also spiked more than 20% after the news, though it fell back as trading wore on.

Trump tweeted his approval of the decision to suspend Ross late Dec. 2. On Dec. 3, he suggested that investors who lost money when markets tumbled in the wake of the erroneous news report should consider suing.

"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.