The White House has denied a TMZ report saying that President Donald Trump is considering commuting the sentence of rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was convicted of sex crimes.
The president was considering commuting Diddy’s sentence “as early as this week,” TMZ said, citing “a high-ranking White House official.” The official also claimed that Trump is “vacillating” on the decision and will ultimately “do what he wants.”
‘The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.’
On Tuesday the White House denied the report and accused TMZ of neglecting to ask the administration to comment on the story.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” read the statement. “The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
TMZ said it stands by the story.
When previously pressed by a CNN reporter to answer questions about the possibility of a pardon for Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, the president said that the rapper had asked him for a pardon.
“I have a lot of people [who] have asked me for pardons,” Trump said. “I call him Puff Daddy, has asked me for a pardon.”
Trump also said that he had been friends with Combs but they had a falling-out after the rapper criticized him when he became president.
Combs was convicted by a jury in July of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but he was acquitted of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He has been imprisoned since his arrest in Sept. 2024 and was sentenced earlier this month to four years and two months.
“You abused the power and control with women you professed to love,” said the judge at his sentencing. “You abused them physically, emotionally, and psychologically.”
Combs had admitted to the court in a statement asking for clemency that he was “sick from the drugs.”
“I can’t change the past but can change the future,” the wealthy celebrity said. “I ask your honor for mercy. I beg your honor for mercy, to be a father again, a son again and be a leader in my community again and get the help I desperately need.”
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