zina accusation (?)

[alfatiha]

I have asked this in the Hanafi Q & A and sorry to ask this again here.

if someone has asked this "I heard that someone said that this lady has been caught committing an adultery with a guy, is that true?" and it turned out that the person whom he asked never heard of the story yet, so:

1. was the questioner guilty of accusing the lady? even though his main purpose was to clarify the rumor.

2. what should he do next?

3. if the lady is someone that he met years ago and would never get a chance to meet her again, would the rumor counts? what should he do to repent?

4. if the lady is a public figure and the rumor was spread in the news, should the accusation counts by the people who talk about it?

your kind replies are appreciated.