Washington (CNN) The possibility of getting a presidential pardon for Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former fixer who is going to jail after arranging hush money payments to protect Trump's presidential campaign, was discussed last year between Cohen's attorney and lawyers for the President, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The Journal, citing conversations with people familiar with the discussions, reported that the talks occurred in April after the FBI raided Cohen's office, home and hotel room. The conversations, the paper said, took place between Stephen Ryan, Cohen's attorney at the time, and Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani and Joanna Hendon, then the President's personal lawyers.

Ryan also approached Alan Futerfas, an outside lawyer for the Trump Organization, and Alan Garten, the company's general counsel, according to the paper.

Trump's lawyers "dismissed the idea of a pardon at the time," but Giuliani, who still works as Trump's lawyer, "left open the possibility" of a future pardon for Cohen, the Journal reported.

The Journal said the pardon discussions took place while Ryan was working with Trump's lawyers "to review files seized from Mr. Cohen's premises by the FBI to determine whether they were protected by attorney-client privilege."

Read More