Article snippet: President FBI. "I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI," James Comey later testified? The message set off renewed talk of potential evidence of obstruction of justice. While Dowd concedes that Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates informed White House Counsel Don McGahn in January following Flynn's interview with the FBI that "the agents were told the same thing the Vice President was told," he maintains that the president did not know Flynn had lied to the FBI because the Department of Justice did not characterize Flynn as having lied. "The FBI and Yates and the Department of Justice did not accuse Flynn of lying despite the fact that he lied to the agents, but nobody was accused of it, so the president didn't know about it," Dowd said. "All the president knew was that the department was not accusing him of lying," Dowd later added. Administration officials have declined to comment on that matter and the president did not respond to shouted questions Saturday evening about Flynn's firing as he returned home from campaign fundraisers in New York City. Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story indicated Dowd referred to the tweet as "sloppy." It was a second source who corroborated Dowd’s account who also called it "sloppy." Link to the full article to read more