DAMAGE CONTROL

Trump Lawyer Claims He Wrote Trump’s ‘Sloppy’ Flynn Tweet

In which the president said he knew that Michael Flynn lied to the FBI at the time of his firing.

John Dowd, an attorney for President Donald Trump, is claiming that he wrote the president’s tweet on Saturday in which he said he fired ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence and to the FBI. “He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” Trump wrote in part of Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Dowd told ABC News that he wrote the tweet and that it was “sloppy.” Trump’s claim about knowing Flynn had lied to the FBI in particular set off alarm bells, as it could be used as evidence in an obstruction of justice case against Trump.