United States President, Donald Trump, revealed on Monday that music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has reached out to him seeking a presidential pardon following his recent conviction on two prostitution-related charges.
“A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office. “I call him Puff Daddy, [he] has asked me for a pardon.”
A spokesperson for Combs declined to respond to Trump’s remarks.
The rapper and entrepreneur was sentenced on Friday to a prison term of just over four years.
He will receive credit for the 12 months he has already served at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest and has also been fined $500,000.
Combs’ legal team, speaking exclusively to ABC News on Friday, said they plan to appeal the verdict, arguing that the judge imposed a sentence far harsher than expected and relied on unproven allegations outside the scope of the conviction.
“The jury made it very clear in their verdict that they acquitted him of the sex trafficking and the RICO counts,” said lead attorney Teny Geragos. “Not guilty means not guilty.”
In a letter to the court, Combs’ lawyers requested that he be allowed to serve his sentence at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal facility in New Jersey known for its Residential Drug Abuse Program.
“In order to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts, we request that the Court strongly recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that Mr. Combs be placed at FCI Fort Dix for RDAP purposes and any other available educational and occupational programs,” Geragos wrote on Monday.
Trump’s remarks came in response to questions about possible pardons, including one for Ghislaine Maxwell, a former associate of Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier that day, the U.S. Supreme Court had declined to hear Maxwell’s appeal challenging her sex trafficking conviction, without explanation.
“I’ll take a look at it,” Trump said when asked about Maxwell’s case. “I will speak to the Justice Department.”
Maxwell is currently serving a prison term for assisting Epstein in recruiting, grooming, and abusing underage girls as part of his sex trafficking network.
