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Sean “Diddy” Combs’ camp has contacted the Trump administration about a possible pardon, one of his attorneys said in a new interview.
Combs, who was found guilty last month by a Manhattan federal jury of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, remains “hopeful” about his chances of being pardoned by President Donald Trump, lawyer Nicole Westmoreland told CNN.
“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” Westmoreland, a member of Combs’ criminal defense team, said in the interview that aired Tuesday night.
It’s not clear who from Combs’ orbit reached out to the Trump administration.
Trump recently suggested that it was unlikely he’d pardon Combs, but Westmoreland told CNN that Combs is still optimistic.
“I think that Mr. Combs is a very hopeful person, and I believe that he remains hopeful,” Westmoreland said.
Representatives and attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.
“Any decision on pardons or commutations will come directly from the President, and the White House will not comment on any speculation regarding such actions,” a senior White House official told Business Insider on Wednesday.
Combs is facing up to 20 years behind bars as a result of his July 2 conviction, but legal experts expect his sentence to be much lower than that.
The 55-year-old self-made businessman and rapper who was once worth close to a billion dollars dodged a possible life sentence in prison when the jury cleared him of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking at his trial.
“He was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent,” Trump said of Combs during an interview with Newsmax last week.
During that interview, Trump signaled that a pardon for Combs wasn’t likely due to the music tycoon’s past negative comments about him.
“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 said.
Trump added, “We don’t like to have things cloud our judgement, right? But when you knew someone and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements.”
That makes a pardon for Combs “more difficult to do,” Trump said.
When asked during the interview whether it was more likely a no for pardoning Combs, Trump responded, “I would say so.”
Combs has been locked up at a notorious Brooklyn jail since his September arrest and indictment.
The judge overseeing his case denied Combs’ latest request to be freed on $50 million bail prior to his October 3 sentencing.
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