{"id":46788,"date":"2025-08-06T02:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T02:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/46788\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T02:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T02:42:09","slug":"attorney-for-sean-diddy-combs-confirms-theyve-approached-trump-administration-about-pardon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/46788\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney for Sean \u2018Diddy\u2019 Combs confirms they\u2019ve approached Trump administration about pardon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Nicole Westmoreland, a member of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs\u2019<\/a> all-star defense team, told CNN in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that the music mogul\u2019s team has reached out to the Trump administration about a potential pardon following his conviction on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution last month.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s my understanding that we\u2019ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,\u201d Westmoreland said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump indicated that he was unlikely to pardon Combs during an interview<\/a> with Newsmax last week, saying, \u201cI was very friendly with him, I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn\u2019t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump added that this makes pardoning Combs \u201cmore difficult to do.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked of Combs\u2019 feelings about his chances of a pardon, even after Trump\u2019s remarks, Westmoreland said this week that Combs \u201cis a very hopeful person, and I believe that he remains hopeful.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n When contacted by CNN, a White House official said they \u201cwill not comment on the existence or nonexistence of any clemency request.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Last month, a jury convicted Combs<\/a> on two lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted the hip-hop mogul of the most serious charges \u2013 racketeering conspiracy (referred to as RICO) and sex trafficking. Combs was facing up to life in prison. Instead, he now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years \u2013 though, he is likely to serve a shorter sentence, according to legal analysts. Prosecutors have not formally said what sentence they\u2019re going to pursue \u2013 presentencing filings aren\u2019t due until September \u2013 but had previously indicated he could face a minimum range of 51 to 63 months (or, roughly 4 to 5 years) in prison. In a filing last week, they indicated their assessed range could end up be \u201csubstantially higher.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Prosecutors accused Combs of leading a criminal enterprise made up of some of his closest employees, alleging they used threats, violence, forced labor, bribery and other crimes to force Casandra \u201cCassie\u201d Ventura and another woman, \u201cJane,\u201d to engage in drug-fueled sex acts with male escorts called \u201cFreak Offs\u201d or \u201chotel nights.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n During the two-month trial, Combs\u2019 defense attorneys focused much of their efforts on questioning \u2013 and attempting to discredit \u2013 witnesses brought forth by the prosecution.\n <\/p>\n

\n The prosecution presented its case over six weeks and called 34 witnesses during the federal criminal trial. Combs\u2019 defense presented a roughly 30-minute case and called zero witnesses. Combs did not testify.\n <\/p>\n

\n Of their approach, Westmoreland said their strategy was to \u201ctell the truth.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t need a creative story. We didn\u2019t need to overreach. We knew that telling the truth would mean not guilty. We knew that he had not sex trafficked anyone and we knew that RICO was absurd. So we figured, hey we\u2019ll tell the truth and that will pay off. And I believe for the most part that strategy worked.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Westmoreland added that the case shouldn\u2019t have been brought by the government in the first place, and that their second mistake was \u201callowing it to keep going.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe government knew that there was no way Combs committed sex trafficking or RICO and they just continued prosecuting anyway,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the jury saw through it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMr. Combs was painted like a monster (by the prosecution),\u201d Westmoreland also told CNN this week, when asked about what, if anything, Combs would like to tell the public. \u201cThere were a lot of allegations made before trial and so I would imagine that any and everyone would want to clear their name.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

Westmoreland\u2019s role as part of Combs\u2019 defense<\/p>\n

\n At trial, Westmoreland cross-examined several witnesses, including former \u201cDanity Kane\u201d singer Dawn Richard and Ventura\u2019s longtime friend Bryana Bongolan, who accused Combs of dangling her over a 17-story balcony in 2016.\n <\/p>\n

\n During a tense cross-examination of Bongolan, Westmoreland presented the jury with hotel records that showed Combs was in New York at the Trump Hotel on the date that Bongolan testified she was dangled over the balcony in Los Angeles \u2013 arguing that it was not possible for Combs to have engaged in the alleged incident.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou agree that one person can\u2019t be in two places at the same time?\u201d Westmoreland asked Bongolan on the stand.\n <\/p>\n

\n Outside the presence of the jury, Judge Arun Subramanian later likened Westmoreland\u2019s cross-examination of Bongolan to a \u201c\u2018Perry Mason\u2019 moment,\u201d referencing the classic network legal drama.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was an honor for the judge to say that,\u201d Westmoreland said this week. \u201cI knew that Mr. Combs was being wrongfully accused, so to be able to bring that out, it\u2019s one of the things that I live for.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Bongolan said during her testimony that while the details and date of the alleged incident are murky, she has \u201cno doubt\u201d that the incident occurred, even if she remembered the date incorrectly.\n <\/p>\n

\n Combs has been held in Brooklyn\u2019s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in Manhattan in September 2024. The judge has denied him bail multiple times.\n <\/p>\n

\n Combs\u2019 defense had asked the court to release him on bail on a $50 million bond. They have argued he is not a danger to the community and is not a flight risk. Still pending is a motion asking the judge to fully acquit Combs or give him a new trial.\n <\/p>\n

\n Other witnesses in the case, including Ventura, previously wrote letters to the judge, pleading for him to remain incarcerated, telling the court they would fear for their safety if he were released from jail ahead of his sentencing \u2013 though one former girlfriend, Gina Huynh who was initially supposed to testify against Combs \u2013 wrote a letter in his support urging the judge to release him on bail.\n <\/p>\n

\n As previously reported<\/a>, Huynh was part of the prosecution\u2019s case against Combs, initially anonymously referred to as \u201cVictim-3.\u201d But before the trial began, prosecutors alerted the court while \u201cVictim-3\u201d was under subpoena to testify, they had lost touch with her and her attorney, and \u201cshe may not show up.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n When asked how Huynh came to write a letter in support of Combs\u2019 release for the defense, Westmoreland did not share specifics.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure on who called who in reference to that, so I don\u2019t know, but obviously Gina didn\u2019t help the government, so they didn\u2019t call her. Gina supports Mr. Combs and wrote a letter and reference to that support.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n When asked if Combs himself \u2013 who the government had previously accused of witness tampering \u2013 contacted Huynh to write the letter, Westmoreland replied, \u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Combs was physically violent on numerous occasions with Ventura, and photographic and video evidence of her being assaulted was shown to the jury throughout the trial, including 2016 hotel surveillance footage of Combs beating Ventura, which was first published by CNN in May 2024. In his decision to deny Combs bail immediately after the verdict, the judge cited Combs\u2019 admitted pattern of violence in his relationships.\n <\/p>\n

\n Combs is facing dozens of civil lawsuits separate from his federal criminal trial.\n <\/p>\n

\n The lawsuits come from men, women and from people who claim that they were minors at the time of the alleged incidents, which span decades. Combs has previously denied all claims. Westmoreland told CNN on Tuesday that she found it telling that those allegations were not part of the government\u2019s case.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe are talking about the United States government. This is the federal government, right? It doesn\u2019t really get any stronger than that,\u201d she said, later adding that \u201cif there was any real evidence of those allegations, we would have heard all about it in the criminal trial.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The government, she added, \u201cdid not put up allegations\u201d like those outlined in the civil lawsuits. \u201cAnd if they had any evidence of that, they would have\u2026 That speaks volumes by itself,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Combs\u2019 experience at trial and his time in prison has been \u201chumbling,\u201d Westmoreland said on Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe appreciates the second chance. He was facing life,\u201d she said, in connection to him being acquitted of the more serious charges. \u201cAnd so I think that that really, that does something to the soul.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBeing in jail is definitely, it\u2019s hard,\u201d his attorney added. \u201cI think he learned a lot through this situation. And I think it would be humbling to the strongest person on the face of the planet.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Combs\u2019 sentencing is currently set for October 3. Westmoreland confirmed that the defense is preparing an appeal \u201cas soon as possible.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facebook Tweet Email Link Nicole Westmoreland, a member of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs\u2019 all-star defense team, told CNN in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-46788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}