WASHINGTON — President Trump shockingly said Friday that he would be open to pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs — currently on trial in Manhattan for alleged sex trafficking and other crimes.
“Nobody’s asked. But I know people are thinking about it. I know they’re thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking,” Trump, 78, said during an Oval Office press conference with Elon Musk.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September and has been held without bail on federal charges.
“First of all, I’d look at what’s happening, and I haven’t been watching it too closely, although it’s certainly getting a lot of coverage,” Trump said.
“I haven’t seen him, I haven’t spoken to him in years. He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics… that relationship busted up, from what I read. I don’t know — he didn’t tell me that, but I’d read some little bit nasty statements.”
Trump concluded: “I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me.”
Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, the trial’s star witness, has testified that the mogul forced her into so-called “freak-offs” — humiliating days-long sex marathons with male escorts — and brutally beat her for years.
The Bad Boy Records founder’s former assistant, using the alias “Mia,” told jurors this week that Combs once snuck into her bed and penetrated her against her will.
The “I’ll Be Missing U” rapper also is charged with running Bad Boy as a “criminal enterprise” that conspired to commit a wide range of crimes, including trying to bribe a security guard to hide horrifying 2016 video of Combs yanking Ventura to the floor and stomping on her in the hallway of the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
Combs is additionally accused of plotting to blow up hip-hop star Kid Cudi’s Porsche in a jealous rage, dangling a woman over a balcony and a slew of other terrifying acts.
The president has pardoned or commuted the prison sentences of an unusually large number of people since reclaiming power in January — after claiming he was mistreated by the legal system over the past four years.
On Wednedsay, Trump issued 17 pardons and nine commutations — wiping clean the criminal records of former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) and ex-Connecticut Republican Gov. John Rowland, while also springing reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley from federal custody.
