The White House has denied a report claiming that President Donald Trump was looking into commuting Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentence, PEOPLE reported.
The response from the White House came after TMZ reported that a high-ranking White House official had informed them that Trump was “vacillating” on commuting the embattled music executive’s sentence. The source also reportedly said that Trump “will do what he wants,” and he could even commute Combs’ sentence before next week.
But, in a statement to USA TODAY on Tuesday, a White House spokesperson said there is “zero truth” to the claims in the story. “The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations,” the official stated.
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Though the White House moved to deny the report, TMZ, in an update, stated that they were standing by their initial story, and Trump was still looking into commuting Combs’ sentence this week.
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 October 3. Combs had faced up to 20 years behind bars.
READ ALSO: Here are the special conditions for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs after he’s released from prison
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.
Following his conviction, Trump, 79, revealed that Combs asked him for a presidential pardon in his high-profile federal sex trafficking case.
Trump 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.
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.
READ ALSO: Judge suggests where Diddy should serve his prison sentence
