The White House has denied a TMZ report that said President Donald Trump is considering commuting convicted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’s 50-month sentence.
TMZ reported Monday that Trump could potentially release the music mogul as soon as this week, against the advice of some of his White House staff.
“There is zero truth to the TMZ report, which we would’ve gladly explained had they reached out before running their fake news,” a White House official said in a statement to HuffPost and other outlets. “The President, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
But TMZ doubled down on its reporting.
“The White House Communications Office is saying our story is not true. We stand by our story. Our story is accurate,” TMZ said in an update added to the top of the same story. A TMZ official also told HuffPost that they “stand” by their story.
Combs was convicted in July after a two-month-long trial. Prosecutors tried to convince the jury that Combs ran a criminal empire, using his power and fame to harm people, mainly women, in his orbit.
The jury found Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. However, the jurors acquitted him on one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. If he were convicted of the latter, he would have faced a life sentence.
Trump, who is the first U.S. president to be convicted of felony crimes, pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters when he returned to office in January.
He has also spoken publicly about pardoning Combs.
“A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Oct. 6. “I call him Puff Daddy, [he] has asked me for a pardon.”
In August, Trump also previously talked about being “friendly” with Combs before running for office. Combs, however, supported Biden in 2020.
“You know, I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great; (he) seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well, but when I ran for office, he was very hostile,” Trump said during a Newsmax interview with host Rob Finnerty.
“You know, like you, we’re human beings and we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right?” Trump added. “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 makes it more difficult to do.”
HuffPost reached out to Combs’ press team for comment.