The Associated Press has fired a reporter and editor in connection to a false story alleging Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe lied to a postal inspector in a fraud scheme, according to The Huffington Post.

The author of the report, which was retracted soon after it was published, Bob Lewis has been fired, the news services announced Monday. Dena Potter, a news editor for the Associated Press who covered Virginia and West Virginia, has also been fired.

Earlier in October the news service reported that McAuliffe had lied to a federal official investigating a fraud scheme run by a Rhode Island estate planner. The report cited documents which referred to a person named “T.M.” T.M. turned out to be somebody other than McAuliffe.