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Days after another member of Combs’ legal team suggested they had contacted President Donald Trump to seek a pardon for the embattled hip-hop impresario, his principal attorney dismissed those reports.
“I have no involvement in any pardon proceedings,” lead counsel Marc Agnifilo told CBS News. “I’ve spoken with no one. I haven’t communicated with the president or with any intermediaries about Sean Combs.”
This apparent reversal followed remarks by Nicole Westmoreland, another member of Combs’ defense team, who told CNN, “It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations regarding a pardon,” though she declined to specify which White House officials were contacted.
In his first network interview since Combs’ recent conviction on prostitution-related charges in New York—he was acquitted of more severe sex trafficking and racketeering allegations that could have resulted in decades behind bars—Agnifilo told CBS he has not broached the topic of a pardon with Combs beyond mentioning the media chatter.
Last month, Combs was found guilty on two felony counts involving the transportation of individuals for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, following testimony from former romantic partners and associates who described drug-fueled “freak-off” gatherings during which Combs allegedly watched as female guests engaged in sexual activities with hired participants.
“He told me, ‘Go tell him I deserve a pardon,’” Agnifilo recounted of Combs’ response to the pardon speculation. At press time, a White House spokesperson had not responded to requests for comment. A senior administration official told CBS the matter remained “purely speculative,” emphasizing that only the president could decide on grants of clemency.
President Trump has frequently used his clemency powers during his second term—including to pardon over 1,500 participants in the January 6 Capitol breach—but in a Newsmax interview last week, he expressed ambivalence about interceding for Combs. “He was essentially half-innocent… I was friendly with him initially and thought he was a good guy,” Trump said. “But when I ran for office, he turned hostile.”
The president, who favors supporters who openly praise him, noted that Combs’ critical remarks could complicate any pardon effort. “Those comments don’t help,” Trump added.
Once seen together at numerous events before 2016, Combs distanced himself from Trump in 2017 during an interview with The Daily Beast, proclaiming he “didn’t really care about” the then-president. After Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat, Combs told interviewer Charlamagne tha God that “white men like Trump need to be banished… getting Trump out of office is our top priority.”
Agnifilo, whose past clients include “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli and NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, said his immediate focus is securing a fair sentence for Combs at the October 3 hearing, where he faces up to 20 years in prison. Agnifilo usually speaks with Combs multiple times a day at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, after a judge recently denied bail, citing the potentially violent nature of Combs’ personal relationships.
While awaiting sentencing, Agnifilo has informed Combs—who was reportedly eager to testify—that the guidelines suggest a term of four to five years, reduced by time served since his September 2024 incarceration.
Despite the scandalous testimony regarding Combs’ private life, Agnifilo revealed one of his client’s future aspirations: “He’s determined to perform again at Madison Square Garden.”
Watch Agnifilo discuss the pardon possibility below.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is still in jail, waiting for his sentencing in October, after a judge turned down the music mogul’s latest request for bail.
In his first network interview since Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial, Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead attorney, told… pic.twitter.com/7cEuEsY6N2
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 7, 2025
