White House: "No discussion" of Manafort, Gates presidential pardons
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that "there is no discussion or consideration" of presidential pardons relating to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former Trump deputy campaign chairman Richard Gates.
"There was no collusion and we're very confident in that and look forward to this process wrapping up," Sanders said during the White House briefing Wednesday afternoon.
Sanders says that she "did not talk to [President Trump] about it specifically," but reiterated that the president's personal lawyer Ty Cobb has gone on the record to tamper down rumors of potential pardons.
"I have 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," Cobb told the New York Times.
The Times reported Wednesday that John Dowd, a former top attorney for Mr. Trump, mentioned the possibility of pardons to Manafort and former Trump administration National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Dowd's talks with the former Trump administration officials reportedly took place before Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged the individuals. The Times reports Dowd's words could be interpreted as an attempt at influencing Manafort and Gates' cooperation in the investigation.
"The president has the authority to pardon individuals, but you're asking me about a specific case in which it hasn't been discussed so I would not have brought that up with him," Sanders said.
Special counsel prosecutors revealed that Gates was knowingly working with an individual with ties to Russian intelligence during the campaign, CBS News justice reporter Paula Reid reported Wednesday.
In a court filing, the special counsel alleges that this unnamed person worked for one of Manafort's companies and was in touch with Gates in September and October 2016. This individual is also described as being "pertinent to the investigation."
These new details were revealed in a court filing about the upcoming sentencing of Alex van der Zwaan, the Dutch lawyer who worked with Gates and Manafort. He will be the first person sentenced in the Mueller probe on April 3. Van der Zwaan told the special counsel that Gates told him this individual was a former Russian Intelligence Officer with the GRU.
Sources with knowledge of Manafort's legal dealings told CBS News' Paula Reid that Manafort is betting his future on a presidential pardon given the likelihood for his conviction.