The White House struck back at a fake news report from TMZ alleging that President Donald Trump was “seriously considering” commuting the prison sentence of disgraced rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
According to TMZ’s October 20 exclusive, a “high-ranking White House official” claimed Trump was “vacillating” and could sign a commuting order for Combs’ 50-month sentence as early as this week.
But the White House rejected the claims outright.
The news outlet reported:
According to our source, the President is “vacillating” on a commutation. We’re told some of the W.H. staff are urging Trump not to commute the sentence. But, our source states the obvious — “Trump will do what he wants,” and we’re told Trump could set Diddy free as early as this week.
Diddy is serving a 50-month prison sentence for violating the Mann Act. He’s served 13 months, and with credit, he could get out in around 2 years — but none of that matters if Trump commutes his sentence.
[…]
We know almost immediately after Diddy was sentenced earlier this month, his legal team was in touch with a high-ranking White House official who has the ear of the President regarding a commutation or pardon. Just days later, Trump told the media he was aware of the ask.
A White House spokesperson described the TMZ story as “entirely false,” accusing the outlet of circumventing standard procedures, Daily Mail reported.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” the spokesperson told the Daily Mail. “The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
Sean Combs was convicted earlier this year on two counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution (under the Mann Act) and is facing a 50-month sentence.
He had been acquitted of more severe charges—racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking.
In August, Attorney Nicole Westmoreland, a member of Diddy’s defense team, confirmed that they have reached out to the Trump administration about a potential pardon.
“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” Westmoreland said.
Trump suggested in a Newsmax interview that he’s unlikely to pardon Combs, saying, “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 added that this makes pardoning Combs ‘more difficult to do.”