Manafort bets on presidential pardon in special counsel case
John Dowd, who was Trump's lead lawyer in the special counsel investigation until he resigned last week, broached the issue in discussions with attorneys for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign manager Paul Manafort, the Times reported, citing three people with knowledge of the talks.
The FBI has found that a business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had ongoing ties to Russian intelligence, including during the 2016 presidential campaign when Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, were in touch with the associate, according to new court filings.
According to the newspaper, the discussions raise questions about whether Dowd was using the issue of pardons to influence their decision about whether to plead guilty and cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the USA presidential election.
There has been media speculation for months about whether Mr Trump could use the power to protect any former campaign aides charged by the Russian Federation investigation.
Flynn, Trump's short-lived national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents last fall and agreed to cooperate with investigators.
Both Manafort and Gates were indicted in October on multiple felony counts including conspiracy, money laundering, and false statements, much of it stemming from their work on behalf of pro-Russian interests in Ukraine.
Such discussions could not constitute the crime of obstruction of justice because the president has vast power to issue pardons, according to Alan Dershowitz, an emeritus law professor at Harvard Law School. A person familiar with the Flynn discussions said Dowd called Kelner sometime a year ago to tell him Trump believed there was no merit to the case against Flynn and the "president would consider a pardon".
"I've 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", Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer working on the Russian Federation investigation, said in a statement. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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"I don't want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet", Trump said in December. The report provoked strong denials from the White House and Trump's attorneys.
Court documents filed by prosecutors this week appeared to offer a glimpse into how investigators planned to use Gates's cooperation in their probe to link Manafort to Russian intelligence.
The description of Person A in the court records appears to match that of Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian who worked for Manafort. Emails that have been read to The Washington Post also show that Manafort asked Kilimnik to offer "private briefings" about the campaign to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian business magnate who is close to the Kremlin.
The possibility of a pardon raises new questions about why Manafort has repeatedly refused to cooperate with Mueller's team.
Flynn's family and advocates have indicated publicly that they are hoping Trump will pardon Flynn. He tweeted: "While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us". I ask for quick action on this.
Van der Zwaan's legal team asked the court on Tuesday for no jail time arguing that though he has not been incarcerated since he pleaded guilty in November: "Alex has in many ways been serving a sentence while stuck in limbo..." "My guess is those sources and methods are telling them this probably was about obstruction and if that's true, if that's true, we could see Dowd exposed criminally".
"Let's see, I can say this: When you look at what's gone on with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department, people are very, very angry".
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