The White House is pushing back against claims that Donald Trump was considering commuting the sentence of Diddy.
The response follows a TMZ report alleging that Trump was weighing a potential pardon for the music mogul, who is currently serving time following his conviction on prostitution charges.
“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 told the outlet. “The President, not anonymous sources, is the final decider on pardons and commutations.”
Despite the firm denial, TMZ stood by its story when contacted by NBC News. TMZ spokesperson Casey Carver stated, “We stand by our story.” In the original report, the outlet claimed, “According to our source, the President is ‘vacillating’ on a commutation. We’re told some of the W.H. staff are urging Trump not to commute the sentence. But, our source states the obvious, ‘Trump will do what he wants,’ and we’re told Trump could set Diddy free as early as this week.”
Deadline reported late Tuesday that the pardon was being considered at some point, but Trump pulled away from the situation out of fear that it would anger his MAGA base.
Diddy’s high-profile federal case concluded with a 50-month prison sentence after his conviction on prostitution charges. He was acquitted on the more serious counts of sex trafficking and racketeering in July.
