Last month, it was reported that President Donald Trump was ‘seriously considering’ pardoning Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs after he was found guilty of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution in a highly publicised trial.
However, the music mogul’s lawyer has now rebutted any knowledge of such a thing.
In early July, following three days of jury deliberations, Combs, 55, was handed a guilty verdict for two of the five charges he faced in his racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking trial. He was found not guilty of the most serious offences.
Having been denied bail, the rapper remains in custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for October.
Recently, it was claimed by a member of Combs’ legal team that they had contacted the Trump administration for a potential pardon. Consequently, a petition was signed by thousands of people, demanding that the pardon not happen.
Speaking to CNN, lawyer Nicole Westmoreland said: ‘It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out (to the White House) and had conversations in reference to a pardon.’
While no further details were divulged, Westmoreland added said her client is ‘a very hopeful person’, adding: ‘I believe that he remains hopeful.’
A pardon exempts a convicted person from serving their sentence. It represents legal forgiveness, restoring a person’s rights, such as being able to vote or run for public office.
So far, in his role as the 47th president of the United States, Trump, 79, has pardoned over 1,500 individuals. However, another of Combs’ lawyers has now said he doesn’t believe the musician will be added to the list.
Combs’ lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told CBS News that he has no knowledge of the alleged pardon, saying: ‘I have nothing to do with a possible pardon.’
‘I have had conversations with nobody. I have not spoken to the president. I have not spoken to anybody who speaks to the president about Sean Combs. I have not,’ he added.
Agnifilo also clarified that a possible pardon has not been discussed with Combs either, except for informing him of what’s been reported in the press.
‘He says, “Go tell him (Trump) that I need a pardon. Go tell him I deserve a pardon.” That’s what he said.’
While a senior official in the president’s administration declined to comment on the matter to CBS, they said that any decision reached would be announced directly by Trump.
The Republican leader has previously spoken about Combs publicly, stating that he would ‘certainly look at the facts’ regarding a pardon for the American producer.
‘I know people are thinking about it,’ he told a press conference in May.
‘People have been very close to asking.’
He added: ‘I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody is mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me.’
However, last week, Trump commented further, saying Combs, who pleaded not guilty to all his charges, was ‘half-innocent’.
He also said it was ‘more likely a no’ that he would be pardoned.
Trump, who also served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021, was once on good terms with Combs, having been called a ‘friend’ by the former Apprentice host.
In 2015, shortly after Trump launched his first campaign, Combs also declared him ‘a friend of mine’, with Trump having previously attended several of Combs’ VIP parties and events in New York.
Expanding on their so-called relationship, the president said in May that they hadn’t seen each other or spoken ‘in years’.
‘He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics, that relationship busted up. I read some little bit nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden.’
Trump doubled down once again on August 1, telling Newsmax host Rob Finnerty: ‘I got along with him great, and [he] seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well.
‘But when I ran for office, he was very hostile. It’s hard, you know? We’re human beings. And we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right?
‘But when you knew someone and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements. So I don’t know … it makes it more difficult to do.’
The remarks Trump was referring to are likely those from 2017 when Combs told the Daily Beast: ‘I think that, to be honest, we don’t really give a f**k about Trump, because [Black people are] in the same f***ed-up position. So that’s not what we’re on.’
In 2020, he added to radio host Charlamagne tha God that ‘white men like Trump need to be banished’ because their ‘way of thinking is real dangerous’.
‘This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families about going to vote … The number one priority is to get Trump out of office,’ he commented.
Currently, Combs, who was arrested in September last year, is facing up to 20 years behind bars, but a much shorter sentence is expected.
Instead, it has been estimated that he could serve two to five years, taking into account his time already served.
Combs’ attorneys have requested bail a number of times already, including on the day of his verdict. All have been denied.
Judge Arun Subramanian will ultimately decide his fate when he returns to court on October 3.
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