Fox's John Roberts: Trump may be pardoning Scooter Libby to send a message to Mike Flynn

Fox News reporter John Roberts made clear what message President Donald Trump was sending with his out-of-nowhere pardon of former Bush administration official Scooter Libby.

Trump issued the pardon Friday, and White House aide Kellyanne Conway said Libby -- who was convicted of perjury in 2007 related to the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity -- was the "victim of a special counsel gone amok."

Roberts, the conservative network's White House correspondent, made Trump's intention even more explicit.

"While this has never been a front burner issue for President Trump, he did agree to the pardon and that could be because the other aspect of this is the timing," Roberts said. "The pardon of Libby also sends a message about the current special counsel investigation. The parallel is Michael Flynn a pleading guilty to making false statements in the Mueller investigation. The president has railed against the investigation for being unfair."

Flynn, who was Trump's first national security adviser, pleaded guilty in December in exchange for his testimony in the Russia probe -- and the president's lawyers reportedly discussed pardons with attorneys for both Flynn and Paul Manafort, who has been indicted on multiple charges in the investigation.

"Could a President Trump be telegraphing his intentions of what he might do with people like Michael Flynn were caught up in the current investigation?" Roberts said. "The president has no plans to pardon anybody involved in that investigation, but it does send a pretty strong message."