President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing a full pardon for Sean "Diddy" Combs before his sentencing later this year on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
An unnamed administration source told Deadline that Trump is "seriously considering" a pardon for the Bad Boys Records founder, who was acquitted of charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy after an eight-week-long federal trial earlier this month, the outlet reported Thursday.
The prostitution charges, under the Mann Act, carry up to 10 years in prison each, but Combs could have faced life in prison if he had been convicted on the more serious charges.
Trump publicly entertained a question of a pardon for Combs about two months ago during an Oval Office press gaggle, but now, with several Combs associates lobbying the White House, insiders say that the topic of a pardon has grown from "just another Trump weave to an actionable event."
Combs remains in detention in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, after having been repeatedly denied release on a $50 million bond.
He will be sentenced on Oct. 3 by Judge Arun Subramanian, with any sentence likely including time already served.
An appeal is expected to be filed almost immediately after Combs is sentenced.
Combs' defense team, led by Marc Agnifilo and Teny Gerago, would not comment on the talk of a pardon, nor would the White House.
Trump and Combs had known each other for decades, but the music mogul endorsed former President Joe Biden in 2020, while criticizing Trump during his first term in office.
In May, though, Trump said that while "no one has asked" him to pardon Combs, he added that "I know people are thinking about it."
Combs' defense lawyers this week again asked that he be let out of jail pending his sentencing, offering a $50 million bond.
Subramanian gave the prosecution a July 30 deadline to assemble a detailed package for allowing Combs to be out on bond.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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