Ross trusted a source he shouldn't have, as it turns out.

ABC stated it has a process for fact checking that Ross failed to follow through on. If someone in the White House played him, it was his responsibility to not let that happen.

Right Wing Run

During Gulf War there was a similar "scandal"...

While anything is possible, he is vulnerable due to history.

Upper Republican management..... can't handle the truth.

...that in the end we find out Ross was basically correct.

it's true but he probably only had one source. Editor panicked.

then source recontacted Ross/ABC to clarify that Trump directed Flynn to make contacts with Russia AFTER election.

But that doesn't change initial information from source that Trump did task Flynn during campaign with improving relations with Russia.

Per NY Times article:
"ABC said the confidant later clarified that Mr. Trump’s request to Mr. Flynn during the campaign had been to find ways to repair relations with Russia. The directive to contact Russian officials on topics that included working together against the Islamic State came after the election, the network said."

Mueller has the goods.

And they jumped the gun.
I put nothing past the effort to get him elected.

And that the problem was one of semantics.

If someone else fucked it up for him, then they should be fired.

I'll bet on the latter because Trump is too incapacitated to even play checkers right now. Ross probably has a source but can't back up the story, no confirmation, and can't reveal his source. And he probably is silenced if he wants his job back.

n/t