The US President Donald Trump is reportedly ‘seriously considering’ pardoning Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who is currently in a Brooklyn jail.
The 55-year-old music mogul had been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution after he was arrested last September – but had denied all of the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
At the start of July,Combs was convicted of transporting Ventura and another former girlfriend, only known as Jane, for prostitution.
He was found not guilty of racketeering and of sex trafficking both women.
Combs is set to receive his sentencing on October 3. He is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years.
A source close to the administration has now told Deadline that Trump, 79, is ‘seriously considering’ giving Combs a Presidential pardon.
This comes just a couple of months after the political figure publicly entertained the idea of a pardon in the Oval Office, admitting he hadn’t been following the story too closely.
‘Nobody’s asked but I know people are thinking about it,’ he said at the end of May. ‘I know they’re thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking.’
‘First of all, I’d look at what’s happening. And I haven’t been watching it too closely, although it’s certainly getting a lot of coverage,’ Trump continued.
‘I haven’t seen him, I haven’t spoken to him in years. He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics he sort of, that relationship busted up from what I read. I don’t know. He didn’t tell me that, but I’d read some nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden.’
He then went on a slight tangent about how he always does the right thing for the people in the US, before circling back to the question.
‘So, I don’t know. I would certainly look at the facts. if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me it wouldn’t have any impact,’ he concluded.
What is a presidential pardon?
A presidential pardon or a federal pardon is something granted by the US President which pardons nearly all federal criminal offences.
The legal pardon is rooted in the US Constitution and states that the president has the ‘power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.’
After coming to power, Trump granted a pardon to almost 1,600 people convicted or charged in connection with the 2021 US Capitol riots.
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James, has had an ongoing feud with Combs and has posted about the case online, even claiming he’d urge Trump not to pardon him.
‘He said some really bad things about Trump, it’s not ok. I’m gonna reach out so he knows how I feel about this guy,’ 50 Cent said on social media as reported by Vulture.
‘Donald doesn’t take well to disrespect, and doesn’t forget who chooses to go against him,’ he wrote in another.
‘While working tirelessly to make America great again, there is no room for distraction. He would consider pardoning anyone who was being mistreated not Puffy Daddy.’
Trump and Combs were both stars on Celebrity Apprentice in 2012, and the president once said that he ‘a good friend of mine, he’s a good guy’, and, ‘I love Diddy.’
Metro has reached out to representatives for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and the White House for comment.
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