The White House is denying a TMZ report that Trump could commute the sentence of disgraced music producer and domestic abuser Sean “Diddy” Combs as soon as this week. The report comes days after Trump freed serial liar, convicted fraudster, and former New York Representative George Santos.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” the White House said in a statement to NBC News. “The President, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
Still, Trump himself has remained silent on the report, which was based on an anonymous source.
Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but was controversially acquitted on heavier charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. He was sentenced to 50 months in prison, fined $500,000, and ordered to remain under five years of supervised release.
Combs’s lawyers have already publicly asked Trump for a pardon, and the president has been fairly vague on how he feels about it.
“He was essentially, I guess sort of half-innocent … I guess [the ruling] wasn’t as good as a victory,” Trump said when asked about a pardon for Combs in an interview with Newsmax in August. “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…. So I don’t know, it’s more difficult.”
TMZ stands by its reporting.
Diddy would be another addition to the long list of rappers and entertainers Trump has granted clemency to including Kodak Black, NBA Youngboy, and Lil Wayne, all of whom received either full pardons or commutations.
The post White House Responds to Report That Trump Could Free Diddy Soon appeared first on New Republic.
