President Donald Trump said Friday he may find it “difficult” to pardon Sean “Diddy” Combs, but not because he thinks the disgraced music mogul did anything criminal.
In an interview with Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty, Trump said he was formerly “very friendly” with Combs, but their relationship took a turn after Trump’s 2016 presidential run.
“When I ran for office, he was very hostile,” Trump said of Combs, who was found guilty on two out of five charges in his sex trafficking trial earlier this year. “And it’s hard, you know? I’m like you, we’re human beings. And we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right? 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,” Trump continued. “I’m being honest, it makes it more difficult to do.”
Trump also described Combs as “essentially sort of half-innocent,” an apparent reference to the split verdict.
Finnerty pressed Trump to say if a pardon for Combs was likely a “no.”
“I would say so,” Trump replied.
Deadline reported earlier this week that Trump had “seriously considered” issuing Combs a pardon ahead of his sentencing, which is scheduled for later this year. Rolling Stone also reported that Combs’ inner circle was actively lobbying the White House.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, attempted to tamp down some of those rumors during an interview with Variety published Friday.
“There are times I think there’s nothing to it, and there are times I think it’s just rumor mill stuff,” he said. “But, I do not purport to know the president’s mind. I really don’t know.”
Combs is facing up to 20 years in prison.
20 Years OfFreeJournalism
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
Trump has a history of pardoning his loyalists, including over 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters. An ABC analysis in May found that about 20% of the pardons he’d issued unrelated to Jan. 6 were for people who had donated to his campaigns or had another political connection to the president.