flynn and former trump campaign chair paul manafort. just as special counsel robert mueller was building a case against them. three sources tell the new york times that dowd's conversation with michael flynn's lawyer occurred sometime after dowd took over last summer as the president's personal lawyer. at a time when a grand jury was hearing evidence against flynn on a range of potential crimes. the times also reports that the pardon discussion with paul manafort's attorney came before his client was indicted in october. the washington post reports said dowd over the summer relayed to manafort's lawyers that a pardon was a possibility. the fbi raided manafort's home in the early morning hours of july 26th. yesterday dowd told the new york times quote, there were no discussions, period. as far as i know, no discussion. white house special counsel ty cobb said in a statement quote,