President Trump confirmed that Sean “Diddy” Combs requested a presidential pardon by sending a letter, but indicated he wasn’t planning to consider it.
This revelation was made during a New York Times interview with Trump published on Thursday. The Times noted that the president confirmed Combs “asked me for a pardon” and said he would not consider the request.
During the same interview, the president said he would not consider pardoning recently captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. When asked about the possibility of a pardon for Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd in 2020, Trump reportedly said, “I haven’t been asked about it.”
There has been tremendous speculation on the topic of a Diddy pardon, as Trump had previously made it sound as though he was considering the idea.
Trump commented on a potential pardon for Combs last May during an Oval Office press conference.
“Nobody’s asked. But I know people are thinking about it. I know they’re thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking,” the president said in response to Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy.
Trump said at the time that he hadn’t been following the case closely, but was aware of the extensive media coverage the trial was receiving.
“I haven’t seen [Diddy], I haven’t spoken to him in years,” the president added. “He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics … that relationship busted up, from what I read. I don’t know — he didn’t tell me that, but I’d read some little bit nasty statements.”
Trump emphasized that any pardon decision would be based solely on the merits of the case.
“I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me,” he stated at the time.
Combs was found guilty of two prostitution charges in July and was facing up to 20 years in prison following a high-profile trial in New York. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Prosecutors wanted to see the rapper behind bars for at least 11 years, calling Diddy “unrepentant,” but he was sentenced to just over four years in prison in October.
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