A member of President Trump’s legal team reportedly discussed the prospect of the president pardoning former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort with their respective lawyers last year.
The New York Times reported that John Dowd, the lawyer, raised the idea of pardons for the two former Trump advisers.
Dowd, who took over as Trump’s personal lawyer last summer, had a conversation with Flynn’s lawyer, Robert K. Kelner, after he assumed his post. When the discussion was occurring, a federal grand jury was hearing evidence involving multiple potential crimes against Flynn.
Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about his contacts with the former Russian ambassador to the U.S.
Dowd reportedly told Flynn’s lawyer the president believed the case against the former national security adviser wasn’t strong, and Trump was looking into pardoning him.
Trump’s personal lawyer also talked about a pardon with Manafort’s lawyer, Reginald J. Brown.
Manafort, too, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on numerous charges, including money laundering.
Dowd resigned from Trump’s legal team last week. He denied discussing pardons with Flynn and Manafort’s lawyers in a statement to the New York Times.
“There were no discussions. Period,” he said. “As far as I know, no discussions.”
Other members of Trump’s legal team also said they didn’t know of any talks regarding prospective pardons.
“Never during the course of my representation of the president have I had any discussions of pardons of any individual involved in this inquiry,” Jay Sekulow told the New York Times.
Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer dealing with the Russia probe, told the New York Times he has “only been asked about pardons by the press.”
According to the New York Times, past and present administration officials have talked to Mueller’s team about discussions they’ve had with Trump regarding possible pardons for his former advisers under investigation by Mueller.
Trump reportedly asked about his pardon power during a meeting with lawyers from the White House Counsel’s Office last year.
Nineteen people have been charged as part of Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling, and five of those 19 have pleaded guilty to charges and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel and his team.
So far in his presidency, Trump has pardoned two people: former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Kristian Saucier, a former Navy sailor who was sentenced to a year in prison for taking photos inside a nuclear submarine.
