August 2, 2025
Trump’s comments suggest his use of the power of the presidential pardon will likely be restricted to those who have not been critical of him.
On Aug. 1, Donald Trump doubled down on his earlier comments regarding his reticence to pardon disgraced music mogul Sean Combs, referring to him as “half-innocent” and insinuating that because the Bad Boy figurehead was less likely to receive a pardon than others because he had been critical of Trump in the past.
According to Rolling Stone, Combs, who was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution on July 2, but was found not guilty of the more serious sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, is facing up to a 10 year sentence.
However, legal experts who spoke to the outlet expect that Combs will receive significantly less than the maximum punishment for his crimes when he is sentenced on Oct. 3.
In an interview with Newsmax‘s Rob Finnerty, Trump insinuated that he doesn’t fully believe that Combs is innocent and also noted that because Combs has been outspoken about his dislike for Trump in the past that he likely wouldn’t pardon him.
During the interview, Trump reflected on his relationship with Combs, noting that he was once “very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and [he] seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile. It’s hard, you know? 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 makes it more difficult to do.”
He concluded, “Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent. [He’s] still in jail or something, but he was celebrating a victory. But I guess it wasn’t as good of a victory.” Prior to these comments from Trump, there was speculation that he could move for a full pardon of the entertainer before his sentencing hearing in early October.
Per a report from Deadline, an unnamed source from within the Trump administration told the outlet that a pardon from Trump was being “seriously considered,” but the outlet also offered the caveat that this being Trump, until his signature is on paper, any declarations from officials in the White House should be taken with a grain of salt.
Their reporting also corroborated earlier reporting from Rolling Stone that indicated that several of Combs’ associates were lobbying the White House to consider a pardon for the mogul; however, they noted that it is unlikely that Combs will serve significant time behind bars.
With the allotment of the 11 months of time he has already served, Combs is likely to serve somewhere between two or three years, and even with that relatively light sentence, his lawyers are expected to file an appeal following his sentencing.
Indeed, as Variety noted in their reporting, Combs’ lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo, and some of his other lawyers have already filed a 62-page motion seeking either a retrial or an acquittal of their client’s conviction under the Mann Act. Per their reporting, and Agnifilo’s assertions, the Mann Act has the legal precedent of being applied to either pimps or sexual crimes involving minors, such as those committed by singer R. Kelly and c.
As he told the outlet, “Sean Combs has basically been convicted for using the services of a sex worker, and that’s just not really prosecuted anymore,” Agnifilo said. “The Mann Act is not supposed to be applied to the user of prostitution services. … It’s supposed to be used for people who make money from the business of prostitution.”
When asked about the potential for a pardon from Trump, Agnifilo hinted to Variety that he won’t put any stock in what he considers rumor mill material.
“I am not involved in that in the least. I have literally no idea. There are times I think there’s nothing to it, and there are times I think it’s just rumor mill stuff. But, I do not purport to know the president’s mind. I really don’t know…My end of the business is very focused on the case alone — the merit of the case and what happened in the courtroom. I don’t do anything else,” Agnifilo said.
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