The White House is pushing back on reports President Donald Trump could commute the prison sentence of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
On Monday, TMZ reported the president could free the music mogul, who was recently sentenced to four years in federal prison, in the coming days, citing a "high-ranking White House official."
But the White House said there was "zero truth" to TMZ's report.
"The president, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations," a White House spokesperson said.
Combs was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution, but not guilty on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, following a highly publicized trial.
According to Deadline, the White House was concerned about backlash from the MAGA base if Trump decided to grant Combs clemency.
"There was a lot here [in the Combs' case] to draw Trump in and appeal to his love of revenge and giving the middle finger to those he feels wronged him," an individual close to the case told Deadline.
"But it was always going to be a long shot if he would grant the pardon or not."
Trump had previously told reporters Combs had personally requested a pardon.
In an appearance on Newsmax in August, Trump noted his prior relationship with Combs.
"I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and he seemed like a nice guy," Trump said on "Finnerty." "I didn't know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile."
"And it's hard, you know? I'm like you; we're human beings, right?" he continued.
"And we don't like to have things cloud our judgment. But when you knew someone and you were fine and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements, so I don't know, it's more difficult."
"It makes it more — I'm being honest — it makes it more difficult to do," Trump said.
Working in Combs' favor was the fact that the judge was appointed by former President Joe Biden and the lead prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York was Maurene Comey, who was fired by the Trump administration and is the daughter of recently indicted James Comey.
Rapper 50 Cent and Megyn Kelly have spoken out against a commutation for Combs.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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