Trump lawyer floated Manafort, Flynn pardons: Report

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - One of President Donald Trump's lawyers floated the idea of issuing pre-emptive pardons for disgraced National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort last year, according to a report published Wednesday.

The pardons were suggested by John Dowd as Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 White House race and the Trump campaign's possible collusion with the effort zeroed in on Manafort and Flynn, according to The New York Times.

Flynn has since struck a plea deal with Mueller's office and will cooperate with the inquiry while Manafort is slated to go on trial on charges stemming from the investigation beginning in July with a separate federal case slated to start in September.

Dowd, who resigned from the president's legal team last week, "was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation" during talks with Trump's former advisers' lawyers, the Times reported.

In a statement to the Times, Dowd denied the report.

“There were no discussions. Period,” said Dowd. “As far as I know, no discussions.”

Trump further discussed pardons with the White House counsel's office, asking about the extent of his powers, according to the Times, which also said he discussed pardoning Flynn during meetings with senior advisors.

Ty Cobb, the White House counsel, said in a statement he has "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 denied the report, with spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders telling reporters there has been "not discussion or consideration" of pardons.

Trump has repeatedly denied that any collusion has taken place and questioned whether or not Russia sought to alter the outcome of the election in the first place.