[ad_1]
Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ lawyer says they’ve reached out to U.S. President Donald Trump searching for a pardon following the rapper’s conviction on two counts of a prostitution-related offence.
A supply near Combs’ authorized group confirmed to NBC News that that they had been involved with the Trump administration.
This comes after Nicole Westmoreland, a member of Combs’ defence group, informed CNN in an unique interview earlier this week that the music mogul’s group had reached out to Trump for a possible pardon.
“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” Westmoreland informed the outlet.
Westmoreland added that Combs “is a very hopeful person and I believe that he remains hopeful” concerning the request.
When requested concerning the potential pardon, a White House official informed CNN that they “will not comment on the existence or nonexistence of any clemency request.”
Last week, Trump informed Newsmax that Combs’ attorneys have “talked to me about Sean” however stated he was unlikely to pardon the music mogul.
“I was very friendly with him, 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,” Trump stated.
“And it’s hard, you know? I’m like you; we’re human beings, right? And we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment,” Trump continued. “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’s more difficult. It makes it more — I’m being honest — it makes it more difficult to do.”
When Trump was requested if granting Combs clemency was extra probably a “no,” he stated, “I would say so.”
Get each day National information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
This isn’t the primary time Trump has been requested about whether or not he would think about pardoning Combs.
In May, when Fox News’ Peter Doocy requested the query, Trump stated he would “certainly look at the facts,” including that “nobody’s asked” however “people are thinking about it.”
Trump additionally stated he hadn’t seen or spoken to Combs in years and was not following his trial intently.
The information of Combs’ group reaching out to Trump comes after a choose stated the rapper should keep in jail till he’s sentenced in October.
Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He confronted federal costs of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fuelled intercourse marathons with male intercourse employees whereas he watched and filmed them.
He was acquitted final month of the highest costs — racketeering and intercourse trafficking.
In denying Combs’ US$50-million bond proposal, Judge Arun Subramanian stated Combs hadn’t confirmed that he didn’t pose a flight threat or hazard, nor proven an “exceptional circumstance” that will justify his launch after a conviction that in any other case requires detention.
Combs’ arguments “might have traction in a case that didn’t involve evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution at issue, but the record here contains evidence of all three,” the choose wrote.
In a courtroom submitting, Combs’ defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo had claimed circumstances on the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn have been “dangerous,” and stated defendants convicted previously of prostitution-related costs that have been just like Combs’ have been usually launched earlier than their sentencing.
Combs’ sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
“Though Mr. Combs has been a model inmate for his nearly year-long period of confinement, the violent conditions are still very much a concern for Mr. Combs and is an unnecessary confinement risk,” Agnifilo wrote.
During Combs’ trial, the rapper pleaded not responsible, and his attorneys contended that prosecutors have been making an attempt to criminalize Combs’ swinger way of life.
In all, 34 witnesses testified, headlined by Combs’ former girlfriends Cassie — the R&B singer born Casandra Ventura — and “Jane,” who testified underneath a pseudonym. Both girls stated he was usually violent towards them. Ventura stated he compelled her into lots of of sexual encounters with paid male intercourse employees, whereas Jane recounted quite a few “hotel nights.”
But Combs’ lawyer continued to argue that he “should not be in jail for this conduct” within the submitting.
“In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail for being any sort of john and certainly the only person in jail for hiring adult male escorts for him and his girlfriend, when he did not even have sex with the escort himself,” Agnifilo wrote.
Combs’ authorized group made an analogous argument to Subramanian after his sentencing, asking him to grant bail to the hip-hop mogul.
Subramanian declined and stated the relevant legislation didn’t enable for Combs’ launch at the moment.
Among different causes, the choose famous Combs’ violent historical past: “At trial, the defence conceded the defendant’s violence in his personal relationships, saying it happened with Cassie and Jane.”
Combs’ conviction carries the potential for as much as 10 years in jail. But there are difficult federal tips for calculating sentences in any given case, and prosecutors and Combs’ attorneys disagree considerably on how the rules come out for his case.
— With recordsdata from The Associated Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.