President Trump’s former personal lawyer raised the idea of pardoning Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn with their attorneys last year, a report on Wednesday said.
The discussions came as special counsel Robert Mueller was investigating both men as part of his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, The New York Times reported.
John Dowd, who
, talked to Manafort’s lawyer before the Trump campaign chairman was indicted in October, the report said.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The conversation with Flynn’s attorney happened around the time Dowd joined the team last summer when a grand jury was hearing evidence against Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser.
Flynn pleaded guilty last December and is cooperating with Mueller’s probe.
Dowd denied talking to their lawyers.
Ty Cobb, another of Trump’s personal lawyers, said, “I have only been asked about pardons by the press and have routinely responded on the record that no pardons are under discussion or under consideration at the White House.”
The White House, asked about the report at the daily news briefing, referred to Cobb’s statement.
“I can say that Ty Cobb is the person most directly involved in this and he has a statement on the record,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
