It is unclear whether Mr. Dowd discussed the pardons with Mr. Trump before bringing them up with the other lawyers. And in other meetings with senior advisers, the president raised the prospect of pardoning Mr. Flynn, according to two people present. “I don’t want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Dec. 15 on the South Lawn of the White House. But Mr. Trump continued to publicly defend his former national security adviser, saying two days later that he felt “very badly” for Mr. Flynn and that the F.B.I. The charges are not connected to any work that Mr. Manafort did for Mr. Trump.

Source: New York Times March 28, 2018 17:19 UTC