White House lawyer Ty Cobb says a pardon for former national security adviser Michael Flynn is not under consideration.

"No — there is no consideration at the White House of pardoning Michael Flynn," Cobb said in an email to The Hill.

Earlier Friday, Trump refused to rule out a pardon for Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in its investigation of Russia’s election interference.

"I don’t want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet,” Trump told reporters at the White House. "We'll see what happens. Let's see."

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A Trump pardon of Flynn would send shockwaves through Washington and possibly throw a wrench into special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump campaign cooperated with Russia’s election meddling in 2016.

Flynn is cooperating with Mueller’s team, which is also looking into whether Trump obstructed justice in the investigation.

By not ruling out a pardon for Flynn, Trump could be signaling to his former national security adviser that he will be rewarded if he does not reveal any damaging information about the president, his family or his advisers.

Cobb's statement was meant to downplay the likelihood of a pardon.

Mueller’s team is reportedly focused on the circumstances surrounding Flynn’s firing.

Trump on Friday also refused to say when he learned that his former national security adviser lied to the FBI.

"You know the answer," Trump said. "How many times has that question been asked?"

The White House waited more than two weeks to fire Flynn after the Justice Department warned that Flynn was vulnerable to Russian blackmail.

Trump tweeted earlier this month that he fired Flynn for lying to the FBI.

"I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI," the tweet said. "He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!"



Another one of Trump's lawyers, John Dowd, claims to have written the tweet and said he meant to suggest that Flynn was fired for misleading White House officials and Vice President Pence.

This story was updated at 12:44 p.m.