WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump confirmed this week that music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs formally sought a presidential pardon for his prison sentence but said he is not moving forward with clemency, according to an interview published Thursday in The New York Times.
Trump noted that he received a letter from Combs seeking relief from his 50-month federal prison sentence but indicated he was not inclined to grant it. “Oh, would you like to see that letter?” the president quipped when asked about the request, though he did not produce the correspondence.
The refusal marks a definitive stance after months of speculation over whether the president might intervene in the high-profile case of the Bad Boy Records founder. Trump also said he is not considering pardons for other notable figures, including Nicolás Maduro, former senator Robert Menendez and Sam Bankman-Fried.
Combs, the 56-year-old hip-hop entrepreneur, is serving his sentence after being convicted in July on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution charges that carry up to ten years in prison under the federal Mann Act. He was acquitted of the more serious sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy counts.
A White House spokesperson confirmed Trump’s remarks, while representatives for Combs declined to comment on the pardon request.
Combs’ legal team has been pursuing an appeal and in recent weeks asked a federal appeals court in New York to order his immediate release from custody. That effort is ongoing.
Trump previously described his relationship with Combs as having cooled sharply since the two were once publicly friendly, saying that Combs made “nasty statements” about him when he entered politics. The former business relationship and subsequent political fallout appear to have complicated any potential clemency considerations.
