Why Donald Trump Says It’s “Difficult” to Pardon Sean “Diddy” Combs
Donald Trump isn’t doing Sean “Diddy” Combs any favors.
Three months after he first shared insight into the possibility of granting the rap mogul a presidential pardon if convicted of his crimes, the president admitted that a few of their past encounters have made him ultimately unlikely to issue a pardon.
"Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent," Trump told Newsmax's Rob Finnerty on August 1, weeks after Combs was found guilty on two out of five charges in his case. "Still in jail or something. He was celebrating a victory, but I guess it wasn't as good of a victory."
Adding that the two hadn’t spoken in years, Trump went on to note that their relationship had always been amicable—until the 2020 presidential election.
“I was very friendly with him,” he recalled of their relationship. “I got along with him great. Seemed like a nice guy, I didn't know him well. When I ran for office, he was very hostile.”
“It’s hard, we're human beings,” he continued. “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. Makes it more, I'm being honest, makes it more difficult to do."
As for what Combs—who was ultimately convicted on prostitution-related offenses but acquitted of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges after 29 days in court—previously said about Trump? One month prior to the 2020 election, he expressed to Charlamagne tha God that he thought the 79-year-old did a “great job of rattling America.”
"Seeing what's going on, White men like Trump need to be banished,” the Bad Boy Records founder said on Revolt TV at the time. “That way of thinking, it's real dangerous. This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families about going to vote. 'Stand back and stand by.'”
“We’re in a war of love versus hate,” he added. “The number one priority is to get Trump out of office."
For a deeper look into Combs’ legal battle, keep reading…
After Sean "Diddy" Combs was found not guilty of racketeering conspiracy as well as sex trafficking ex Cassie Ventura and ex "Jane"—though he was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution of both women—the singer's lawyer reacted to the verdicts.
"This entire criminal process started when our client Cassie Ventura had the courage to file her civil complaint in November 2023,” Douglas Wigdor said in a July 2 statement to E! News. “Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution. By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice."
Noting the charges—which Combs pleaded not guilty to—Wigdor added, "We must repeat – with no reservation – that we believe and support our client who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial.”
Wigdor also praised Ventura, who was one of 34 witnesses called to the standing during Combs' 29-day trial, for her effort.
“She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion,” he continued. “This case proved that change is long overdue, and we will continue to fight on behalf of survivors."
Upon hearing that he was acquitted on three of the five charges in his federal court case, Combs—who faced life in prison if convicted on all charges—got on his knees and placed his head down in a chair, in a prayer-like position, according to NBC News reporters in the courtroom.
Per the news organization, Combs' family stood in the courtroom, clapping and cheering for the music mogul's fate. The defense attorneys hugged each other, while Combs hugged lawyer Brian Steel.
On July 2, the 12-member jury delivered their verdicts on the five federal charges Combs faced in his sex trafficking trial. The jurors, who were on their third day of deliberation, found him guilty of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, relating to ex-girlfriends Ventura and a woman referred to as "Jane."
Combs—who had pleaded not guilty to all charges—was found not guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking.
The day before delivering their verdicts, the jury told U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian they were unable to reach a consensus on the racketeering charge due to “unpersuadable views.” Subramanian addressed the jurors and encouraged them to continue their deliberations. A verdict was reached hours after deliberations began the next day.
Prosecutor Christy Slavik spent four hours and 50 minutes delivering closing remarks to jurors, in which she argued that Sean “Diddy” Combs “used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted.”
“He doesn’t take no for an answer,” she said. “It was his kingdom. Everyone was there to serve him.”
Slavik pointed to Combs’ 2016 physical assault of his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and a 2024 alleged assault of his then-girlfriend, who has been going by “Jane” for the trial.
“These two incidents are separated by eight years, but they're not separate stories,” she said. “They're chapters in the same book, the story of Sean Combs and the criminal enterprise he led made up of his inner circle.”
“Again and again, that criminal enterprise serviced the defendant's every desire through a methodical pattern of violence, coercion and manipulation,” she continued. “The defendant counted on silence and shame to keep his crimes hidden. He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”
Slavik argued that this trial Combs had the help of what she described as a “a small army of personal staff, who made it their mission to meet the defendant's every desire, promote his power and protect his reputation at all costs.”
The prosecution submitted a filing to Judge Arun Subramanian, in which they requested to amend parts of their theories of attempted arson and kidnapping.
Although Combs is still facing the same racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking counts—which include the kidnapping and arson allegations—prosecutors wrote in the June 24 letter they had “removed instructions from the charge relating to attempted kidnapping under both California and New York law, attempted arson under California law, and aiding and abetting sex trafficking.”
The government added that it “hopes” simplifying the language “not only serves the purposes of streamlining the instructions but also will avoid any confusion.”
Combs told Judge Subramanian that he will not take the stand during his sex trafficking trial.
The judge emphasized that regardless of the rap mogul’s decision, “no one, including the jury, could draw any inference or suggestion of your guilt from the fact that you did not testify.”
Combs, who confirmed that he spoke with his team about not testifying, emphasized that this was “solely” his decision.
"We have discussed it thoroughly, that is my decision," he said to the judge. "That is totally my decision, I am making it."
Combs' defense attorney Teny Garagos told the judge that her team and the prosecution expect to take “at least four hours” each for their closing arguments.
With Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Joseph Cerciello completing his multi-day testimony as the prosecution’s witness June 24, the defense will begin their argument. Combs’ team shared that they will not be moving forward with any witnesses and will instead focus on entered evidence.
During Ceriello’s testimony June 23, the jury was shown explicit videos—which, according to NBC News reporters in the courtroom, appeared to be from Combs’ “freak offs”—that were entered into evidence.
While the special agent noted there were 50 explicit videos from 2021 and 2022, jurors were shown two files using headphones and screens.
In voicemails to his former chief of staff Kristina Khorram played June 23, Combs detailed a specific list of requests while staying at a hotel in November 2021, including a restock on baby oil—which he regularly used during “freak offs.”
“Tell them to call me before they are on the way,” he said to Khorram. “Can’t believe I’m out. Put 20 bottles in this motherf--ker.”
Along with Khorram extending the hotel visit for an additional day, she replied, “OK. The baby oil is outside the door.”
In text messages, his former employee texted that she was preparing an IV drip for him and Jane, which he used as part of at least one “freak off” recovery, according to the group text messages.
She also made sure that there were Plan-B pills, an emergency contraceptive, in his nightstand.
Jurors were shown a series of text messages between Combs and Ventura, during which the “Long Way 2 Go” singer candidly detailed the toll his alleged abuse was taking on her.
After Combs asked whether Ventura, whom he dated on and off from 2007 to 2018, wanted to take a break in March 2017, she replied, “No. I just don't want to be beat down for being defiant or ever. You treat me and make me feel like I don't matter."
In another instance, she further accused her ex of physically assaulting her.
“I give you love, and as soon as I turn my head for a second and you get fucked up, you drag me down the hall by my hair. I'm 30 years old,” Ventura wrote to him that May. “This isn't play anymore. I felt like I was dead last night and it wasn't happening to me bc seeing my light was so beautiful."
Combs’ former assistant Brendan Paul—whom he employed from 2022 to 2024—testified that he had purchased drugs for his boss on multiple occasions, including “Marijuana, 2C, cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy.”
“We would text the drug dealer and then the drug dealer would come to either of the homes,” Paul—who also recalled being fired multiple times for varying offenses, including forgetting a Lululemon fanny pack—said of the process. “I was introduced to them either through texts or phone calls.”
However, Paul vehemently denied being a “drug mule” for the rap mogul.
Judge Subramanian adjourned the courtroom for the day on June 18 after a member of the main jury did not return due to illness. (Court is not in session on June 19 for Juneteenth.)
“We have a sick juror who cannot be here and had vertigo and had to turn back,” the judge said. “The juror's partner notified us. He is not here, and he is on the regular jury, so it appears we cannot go on today.”
The judge noted that it’s unclear whether the juror’s vertigo flare-up—which causes dizziness, nausea, and headaches, along with other symptoms—is temporary or a long-term issue, but would “monitor the situation.”
With court not in session June 19 for Juneteenth, Judge Subramanian said the trial would resume with a shortened session on June 20, running from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Shortly after Judge Subramanian dismissed Juror No. 6 over conflicting answers as to his place of residence, a second member faces possible dismissal over an alleged improper conversation about the case with a former colleague. The member in question was questioned by the judge and handed his phone in for inspection, per NBC News.
A decision had not been made as to the member’s dismissal by the end of the court session on June 16.
Kanye West arrived at the New York City courthouse June 13 in support of Combs. The “Stronger” rapper, who was in the building for about 30 minutes, made a brief visit to the overflow area but never entered the courtroom. The main room is reserved for Combs’ family and legal team, as well as the media and spectators who wait in line for hours for a seat.
Jane recalled an argument between them after she went on a trip to Las Vegas with another rapper and his wife.
She testified that it led to sexual voyeurism after she solicited Anton, a sex worker whom she and Combs often hired, where a group of people watched him have sex with a woman in a hotel room during the trip.
Jane told Combs’ attorney Geragos that the rap mogul was upset after accusing her of attending another man’s “freak off.”
On day 21 of Combs' trial, assistant U.S. attorney Maurene Comey shared her team is seeking to remove one of the 12 members of the jury.
“We were very reluctant to put in this letter,” she told Judge Subramanian before the jury entered the New York City courtroom. “It appeared to be a lack of candor with the court that raises serious issues with us.”
Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro—who said that Juror No. 6 is among the panel’s Black members—asked for one or two days to “respond in writing” and “go over case law.”
In response, Judge Subramanian said he will “reserve on handling logistics” about the juror until a decision is made.
Jane and Garagos had a tense conversation June 10 as the latter insinuated the witness was having sex with men for luxury goods.
Geragos went through text messages from November 2021 between Jane and Combs, in which the witness was upset that the rap mogul was having sex with other women. Per the texts, she asked Combs if he gave the other woman “a Chanel bag” after having sex.
Jane said that she didn’t get a Chanel purse from Combs, telling Garagos that she “got trauma.”
When the attorney asked what a Bottega bag was, she replied, “I’m sure you have one.”
And when Geragos asked how much the item costs, Jane asked, “How much does my body cost?”
Jane was granted a 10-minute break following the exchange.
Jane testified that around 2022, she believed that Combs was a “cuckhold,” a person who finds pleasure in watching their partner be physically intimate with another person, after looking up her and Combs’ sexual dynamic.
“It gave me more of an understanding,” she said of her reasoning for the research. “I was just trying to deep dive on all the reasons why they had derived so much pleasure from watching their woman be with other men.”
The witness theorized that Combs’ desire for “hotel nights,” the details of which are nearly identical to Ventura's “freak offs,” was because he may be curious about his own sexuality.
“Cucks could also have a real curiosity that they're too ashamed to experience themselves,” she testified, “and so they use the woman to venture out in this curiosity without actually doing the act itself.”
Jane testified that she had nicknamed Paul—an escort she and Combs solicited on multiple occasions—“Trifecta” because she compared their sexual dynamic to the on-court success of basketball stars.
“I was Kobe Bryant and Paul was Shaq [O’Neil],” she told jurors. “Combs was Michael Jordan.”
She described Paul as “really nice,” noting that if she “had to” have sex with escorts, “at least it was with someone with a warm energy.”
Jane testified that Combs’ dynamic with Khorram was a “point of contention” in the witness’ romance with the rap mogul.
“She was always with him,” Jane said of Khorram. “It was difficult for our relationship. I believe that she had very strong feelings about me, which influenced a great deal with how Sean treated me.”
On June 10, Judge Subramanian denied a motion for mistrial by Combs' legal team, in which his attorneys argued that Ventura and her friend Bryana Bongolan lied about the latter being dangled over the 17th-floor balcony by the rap mogul.
His lawyers, whose previous motion for a mistrial was also denied, accused the prosecution in the filing of “misconduct” with the “introduction of perjured testimony.”
“In this trial the government has presented testimony that it knew or should have known was materially false related to its allegation that Mr. Combs dangled Bryana Bongolan from the balcony of Cassie Ventura’s apartment in September 2016,” the letter said. “Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial.”
Jane alleged that the rap mogul had beaten her for hours June 2024.
Jane testified that she and Combs began arguing about the latter seeing a woman who was 25 years his junior, which Jane said led to her calling him a “pedophile” and pushing his head into a marble kitchen counter.
The witness said she had hidden in the primary bedroom and Combs began kicking the door open. (Photos of the cracked door were entered into evidence.) She alleged that while trying to run away, the Bad Boy Records founder kicked her in the back of the thigh, which made her fall.
“He put me in a chokehold on the ground, lifted me up, and I couldn't breathe, and I was on my tippy toes,” she told the prosecution. “I was just trying to get out of his grip.”
Jane said she ran out of the house and hid behind a wall outside for approximately two hours, hoping he would leave, but he did not. She said they subsequently returned to his home, where she curled up in the backyard to protect herself as Combs allegedly attacked her.
According to Jane, the altercation escalated after Combs allegedly punched her back. “He started punching my head,” she told the court. “He started kicking me. He started saying all kinds of things and just kept punching.”
She alleged that he told her that she was “trying to take him away from his kids and his family.”
“I said, ‘No, I'm not. Just leave me alone. Just leave. Please stop,’” she testified. “Then he just grabs me by my arm and my hair and just starts dragging me back to the house … by my hair, by my arm.”
After the alleged assault, Jane said she saw “two golfball-sized welts” on her forehead, as well as a black eye.
Jane said that Homeland Security Investigated raided her home, which was paid for by Combs in March 2023, along with multiple other residences owned by the mogul. She said that agents came to her house and she called Combs’ head of security to tell him about the situation.
Jane alleged that the mogul threatened to release their sex tapes and show them to her baby’s father in December 2023.
As Jane and Combs' relationship deteriorated, she said he told her that he had “nothing to lose” by releasing the videos. She testified, “It was just back-to-back pressure phone calls.”
She texted Khorram about the interaction, which was entered into evidence. In the texts, Jane wrote that Combs was threatening to post the footage, in which she said she was “heavily drugged.”
She also wrote that she needed “time away from” Combs because she was trying to work through “all the trauma” he caused.
Jane told the court that Khorram assured her that Combs would not use the footage.
Jane said during her testimony that parts of Ventura's November 2023 lawsuit—which was ultimately settled—mirrored her own experience with Combs.
“I almost fainted, in fact, I think I did,” she told jurors as she cried. “There was three specific pages that was just a harrowing reference to what I was experiencing.”
Jane, who took part in “hotel nights, "said that it felt like she was reading “her own story.” It led to her confronting Combs via text messages.
“I feel like I am reading my own sexual trauma,” she wrote after Ventura’s lawsuit, in screenshots shown in evidence. “I am sick. It's exactly word for word, drug-filled days and nights. You knew this was coming. You gaslit me, you made me go crazy.”
“I am disgusted, I felt forced to perform back to back,” the messages continued. “You made me feel crazy about the sex trauma I was feeling. I feel very violated. This was sexual exploitation.”
Combs subsequently called Jane and recorded the conversation without her knowledge that was entered into evidence, in which he told her that they “did these things together” and that “this is when” he needed her “to be there.”
Jane, who didn’t know she was being recorded, told Combs that she was “sick” to her stomach after reading Ventura’s documents.
Jane said that while she was often high on ecstasy while participating in “Hotel Nights” with Combs and male escorts, one evening she decided not to take any drugs while having sex with three men.
“I was with multiple men this night,” she testified. “I threw up. Sean came in and said, ‘You’ll feel better now. Let’s go outside.’”
Jane said that at the end of the night, she felt “absolutely terrible.”
After day 18 of the trial, Combs' legal team filed a motion for mistrial June 7, arguing that Ventura and Bongolan lied about the latter being dangled over the 17th-floor balcony by the rap mogul.
Lawyers for Combs—whose previous motion for a mistrial was denied by Judge Subramanian—accused the prosecution of “misconduct” with the “introduction of perjured testimony.”
“In this trial the government has presented testimony that it knew or should have known was materially false related to its allegation that Mr. Combs dangled Bryana Bongolan from the balcony of Cassie Ventura’s apartment in September 2016,” the letter said. “Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial.”
The defense accused Bongolan of lying about the incident, pointing to some alleged inconsistencies in her story. The prosecution will respond June 9 and the judge will make his ruling the next day.
Jane testified that Combs began paying the rent for her home in April 2023, two years into their relationship, and is still doing so. She said that she and the rap mogul agreed a month prior that he would provide her with a monthly allowance.
“It was in this ‘hotel night,’ I remember that this was when Sean proposed this ‘love contract’ between him and I,” she told jurors. “It was him asking me what I wanted for an allowance every
month, just moving forward, that's what he was going to do for me.”
"I said 15,000 and he said 10,000," she said of the allowance."I started looking for new places and moved into a new home and used that budget. I wanted something big and spacious for my child and I to enjoy. A place I could go home to and enjoy, some sense of balance in the relationship. I had been giving him all my love and this was him giving me something."
Jane alleged that per the agreement, she would receive money “for everything without pressure for two years.”
Jane said that she suffered urinary tract infections and yeast infections “almost every week” as a result of the hourslong sex sessions and would take antibiotics regulary. She admitted that along with having sex before fully recovering from her UTIs at times, she also dealt with soreness in her pelvic area during “100 percent” of the “hotel nights.”
The witness also shared that she suffered pain in her shoulders and back during the sex. She added, “I would be at the edge of the seat or at the edge of the bed in the position that he liked me doing foreplay on these men.”
Despite the pain she experienced, Jane testified that she didn’t tell Combs of her pain because she “didn’t want to indicate any negativity.”
But she alleged the pain didn’t begin and end in the bedroom. She told jurors that she had gotten her nipples pierced at Combs’ request because he allegedly told her it would “really turn him on and that's what he wanted from his girl.”
She said she removed the piercings because they “snagged and bled and got infected.”
However, she testified that Combs was unhappy with her decision.
“He was OK with it at first,” she alleged. “But then I could tell he was getting impatient with how long it was taking me to put them back in.”
She added, “He would say things like, ‘Where are my piercings? This is the last time I see you when you don't have any piercings on.’”
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