Lawyers for Flynn and Manafort declined to respond to the Times’ request for comment.
John Dowd, the former lead attorney representing President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation, proposed pardons for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign head Paul Manafort last year during conversations with their lawyers, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing three unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation.
The possibility of pardons arose as special counsel Robert Mueller was “building cases against both men,” which the Times said raised “questions about whether the lawyer… was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate” in the Russia investigation.
Dowd, who resigned from President Trump’s legal team last Thursday, told the Times that, as far as he knew, “there were no discussions” about pardoning Flynn or Manafort.
“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, another Trump lawyer, told the Times on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also denied that any pardon proposals were made during her daily briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
“As I said, an on-record statement from the president’s attorney, here at the White House, on these matters has said there’s no discussion or consideration of this,” Sanders said.
Lawyers for Flynn and Manafort declined to respond to the Times‘ request for comment.
While these allegations are still unconfirmed, the president has openly discussed potential pardons for former aides under investigation in the Russia probe, according to two people with knowledge of the interviews who spoke with the Times.
Another unnamed source cited a different meeting, at which President Trump also brought up the subject of presidential pardons. They told the Times that the president asked about the extent of his power and had a lawyer further explain his powers to him.
The White House has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia in regard to the 2016 election.
