Donald Trump plans to commute the prison sentence of Sean “Diddy” Combs as early as this week, a source close to the White House said.
Combs, 55, was sentenced to 50 months in prison on two counts of transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
A source told TMZ that Trump was “hesitating” on whether or not to follow through on his weekend switch of former Congressman George Santos with Combs.
While White House staff advise against the move, the source said that ultimately, “Trump will do what he wants.”
Combs — who avoided an even longer sentence when he was acquitted of more serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges — could be free at some point this week.
Trump previously suggested he probably wouldn’t grant him a pardon, but added that Combs’ acquittal on numerous sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges meant he was “basically, sort of, half-innocent.”
Speaking to Newsmax in August, Trump ultimately said it was “more likely a no,” but pointed out the interesting situation the rapper found himself in.
“Well, he was basically, sort of, half-innocent. I don’t know what they’re doing, he’s still in jail or something. He was celebrating a win but I guess it wasn’t as good a win,” he said.
Donald Trump plans to commute the prison sentence of Sean “Diddy” Combs as early as this week, a source close to the White House said.
Trump ‘hesitating’ over whether or not to follow through on his weekend switch of former Congressman George Santos with Combs
The president then detailed his past relationship with Combs, as both are native New Yorkers who rose to fame.
“I was very friendly with him, I got along very well with him, I seemed like a nice guy, I didn’t know him well,” he said.
In May, Trump said he would think about it, telling the press: “I would watch what happens… He really liked me.”
It started to take a turn when Trump turned to politics. While Combs was largely agnostic in the 2016 race, he supported Joe Biden in 2020 and said that if Trump won, there would be a race war.
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.
The news comes on the same day that Combs’ lawyers announced they planned to appeal his conviction.
The rapper and mogul has already served 13 months of his sentence.
But in a two-page notice to the New York federal district court filed by her lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, she signaled her intention to appeal, but they did not outline the legal rationale for the appeal, according to documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
Trump previously suggested he probably wouldn’t grant him a pardon, but added that Combs’ acquittal on numerous sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges meant he was “basically, sort of, half-innocent.”
The president spoke about his past relationship with Combs, as both are New Yorkers who rose to fame.
However, in previous filings, the rapper’s legal team has argued that his conviction should not stand because the two prostitution charges did not apply to his conduct, as they would be relics of the Mann Act that are now rarely used.
More detailed documents outlining Diddy’s reasoning behind his appeal will likely be submitted in the coming weeks.
Diddy’s appeal would initially be heard by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Diddy was still listed as imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center as of Monday afternoon, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Federal prison consultant Sam Mangel told the Daily Mail that defendants typically wait 45 to 60 days before being transferred to a federal prison to begin their sentence.
However, due to the federal shutdown, Diddy might wait longer than usual at Brooklyn MDC, Mangel said.
On October 3, Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced Diddy to 50 months in prison following his conviction on two prostitution charges, but he is credited with the year he already spent in jail at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center before and during his trial.
His legal team had argued for a much more lenient sentence of just 14 months in prison.
Once the 12 months he had already spent in prison were subtracted from the total, Diddy would have served only two additional months in prison depending on the sentences he preferred.
On the other hand, the prosecutor had requested a sentence of at least 11 years and three months in prison.
