White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday asserted that President Donald Trump is not moving to pardon former campaign chair Paul Manafort or former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “at this time.”
At Wednesday’s White House briefing, Sanders was asked about a New York Times report which claims “President Trump broached the idea of Mr. Trump pardoning two of his former top advisers, Michael T. Flynn and Paul Manafort, with their lawyers last year, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.”
Without denying the substance of the report, Sanders insisted that there were no “current” plans to pardon the two men, who face charges as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“There is not discussion or consideration of that at this time,” Sanders told reporters. “So, there would have been no reason for me to have had a conversation with the president about that because that is not being currently discussed at the White House.”
Sanders, however, did not say if pardons had been discussed with lawyers outside the White House.
The press secretary confirmed that the president believes he has the right under the constitution to pardon Manafort and Flynn.
