Trump’s Lawyer Reportedly Floated the Idea of Pardoning Manafort and Flynn

Nothing to see here, folks.

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One of President Donald Trump’s attorneys discussed the possibility of pardons with lawyers for Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort—two people at the center of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe—according to a stunning new report from the New York Times.

Last year, Flynn, the former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russian officials. Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and money laundering. As the Times explained, “The discussions came as the special counsel was building cases against both men, and they raise questions about whether the lawyer, John Dowd, was offering pardons to influence their decisions about whether to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation. The paper cited “three people with knowledge of the discussions,” though it noted that Dowd himself denied raising the possibility of pardons. “There were no discussions. Period,” Dowd told the Times. “As far as I know, no discussions.”

According to the Times, “legal experts are divided” over whether such an offer could amount the obstruction of justice.

The report comes as Trump struggles to hire lawyers willing to represent him in the face of mounting legal problems.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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