President Donald Trump on Monday revealed that convicted music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs asked him for a presidential pardon in his high-profile federal sex trafficking case.
Trump, 79, touched on the topic while speaking with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about the likelihood of granting Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, a pardon. Trump stated that Combs and “a lot of people” have asked him for pardons.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, a federal judge sentenced Combs, 55, to 50 months in prison on prostitution-related charges. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian also fined him $500,000 and ordered five years of supervised release at a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Friday. Combs had faced up to 20 years behind bars.
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The disgraced music executive and multi-millionaire was arrested by federal agents on September 16 last year and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has, however, maintained his innocence.
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A member of Combs’ legal team told CNN in August that the Bad Boy Records founder’s representatives had contacted the Trump administration to discuss a potential pardon for him.
“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” attorney Nicole Westmoreland told CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister at the time.
Trump had also initially stated that he wasn’t looking at granting Combs a presidential pardon. “I was very friendly with him, I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy,” Trump told Newsmax. “I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile.”
Trump also stated that Combs’ hostility toward him was why it was “more difficult” to grant him the pardon.
Meanwhile, Combs’ legal team on Monday asked Judge Arun Subramanian to suggest to the Bureau of Prisons that he serve his sentence at a low-security federal correctional facility in Fort Dix, New Jersey, to enable him to “address drug abuse issues” and “maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts.”
