Did he know or not know. Irrelevant.
What happened is relevant.
Now, it is unquestioned Saint Micky knew and that likely shaped his response.
What we see are pressures to hold press conferences, make statements, answer questions, etc. . .and when time passes and facts become known, some things change. . .and it is those changes that too many people point at and say “ahah!, there’s something fishy going on here, the story is changing!”
These are the same people that wail about cover-up and hiding things if only the facts released are the facts known. . .
We have no idea what shaped his response.