Dowd said Monday that White House lawyers did not expressly tell Trump that Flynn had lied to the FBI before he was fired. Rather, he said, Trump was told that Flynn "had said to the agents what he said to VP."
If Trump knew Flynn committed a possible felony by lying to FBI investigators, that could be a significant admission when it comes to obstruction of justice, according to lawyers who have followed the investigation.
“It’s harmful to him,” Georgetown University law professor Michael Seidman said. “If he knew that somebody committed a violation and is trying to stop the investigation, that makes it much harder to prove that it wasn’t corrupt.”