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Trump's lawyer says he was behind President's tweet about firing Flynn

<p>A tweet from President Donald Trump has some legal analysts asking whether he admitted to <a href="https://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-tweet-raises-obstruction-of-justice-questions/" target="_blank">obstruction of justice</a>. But the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-lawyer-wrote-presidents-sloppy-tweet-flynns-dismissal/story?id=51541650" target="_blank">president's lawyer</a> says he wrote the tweet.</p><p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937007006526959618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-lawyer-wrote-tweet-implying-trump-knew-flynn-lied-to-fbi%2F" target="_blank">tweet said</a> Trump fired former national security adviser Mike Flynn because Flynn lied to the FBI.</p><p>That'd be an issue because the day after Flynn resigned from the Trump administration, the president <a href="https://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-reportedly-asked-comey-to-drop-flynn-investigation/" target="_blank">allegedly asked</a> James Comey, then director of the FBI, to drop an investigation into Flynn.</p><p>Experts say if Trump had known Flynn lied to the FBI before he left the administration, that request to Comey could have amounted to obstruction of justice.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="https://www.newsy.com/stories/white-house-issues-statement-after-mike-flynn-s-plea-deal/">Here's How The White House Responded To Mike Flynn's Plea Deal</a></b></p><p>But Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, says he penned the tweet. Not only that, but he reportedly messed up the meaning. Sources <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-lawyer-wrote-tweet-implying-trump-knew-flynn-lied-to-fbi/" target="_blank">told CBS</a> that Dowd meant to say Flynn was fired and "now we know" he lied to the FBI.</p><p>Trump, or someone claiming to be Trump on his Twitter, took the defense further <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937279001684598784" target="_blank">on Sunday</a>, tweeting, "I never asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn."</p><p>The White House has long denied that Trump asked to halt the investigation. But Comey says he took detailed notes of his conversations with Trump, some of which reportedly indicate the request happened.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/report-says-mueller-investigation-costs-top-5-million/">Here's How Much The Mueller Investigation Has Reportedly Cost So Far</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-tweet-raises-obstruction-of-justice-questions/">This Trump Tweet Is Raising Questions About Obstruction Of Justice</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/democrats-argue-senate-gop-tax-bill-was-impossible-to-read/">Democrats Argued The Senate GOP Tax Bill Was 'Impossible' To Read</a></li></ul>
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President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, confirmed to CNN on Sunday that he wrote a tweet for the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account about the firing of former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.

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

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Dowd drafted the tweet, citing two people familiar with the Twitter message. NBC News' Chuck Todd also reported Sunday on "Meet the Press" that Dowd confirmed he authored the message.

Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Russia's ambassador to the US during the transition and disclosed that he is cooperating with the special counsel Robert Mueller's office.

Dowd previously said the tweet paraphrased White House special counsel Ty Cobb's Friday statement on Flynn's guilty plea.

"The tweet was a paraphrase of Ty Cobb's statement yesterday," Dowd told CNN. "I refer you to (former FBI Director James) Comey's testimony before Congress about FBI view of Flynn's answers."

However, Cobb's statement on Friday does not say anything about Flynn's lies to the FBI being a factor in his firing.

The @realDonaldTrump tweet raised immediate questions on whether Trump knew Flynn had lied to the FBI when he fired him in February.

"...just couldn't resist commenting on Flynn," Walter Shaub, the former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, tweeted. "Are you ADMITTING you knew Flynn had lied to the FBI when you asked Comey to back off Flynn?"

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted, "If that is true, Mr. President, why did you wait so long to fire Flynn? Why did you fail to act until his lies were publicly exposed? And why did you pressure Director Comey to "let this go?"

Comey said in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that Trump pressed him to end the investigation into Flynn. Trump continues to deny this, and on Sunday morning sent a tweet calling it a "Comey lie."