The lead attorney for Sean “Diddy” Combs, Marc Agnifilo, says he has not had any conversations with the Trump administration about seeking a pardon for his client.
Agnifilo sat down with CBS news for his first network interview since a New York jury convicted Combs of prostitution-related charges last month. Combs was acquitted of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3.
Earlier this week, another attorney for Combs, Nicole Westmoreland, told CNN it was her understanding that the defense team “had conversations in reference to a pardon” with the Trump administration.
But Agnifilo tells CBS News, “I have nothing to do with a possible pardon.”
“I have had conversations with nobody,” Agnifilo said. “I have not spoken to the president. I have not spoken to anybody who speaks to the president about Sean Combs. I have not.”
He says he hasn’t discussed it with Combs either, except to tell him what’s in the news.
“He says, ‘Go tell him (Mr. Trump) that I need a pardon,'” Agnofilo said. “‘Go tell him I deserve a pardon.’ That’s what he said.”
A senior White House official declined to comment on what they termed “speculation” and told CBS News any decisions on pardons would come from the president himself.
Agnifilo said right now he’s focused on getting his client “a good sentence.”
He said he usually speaks several times a day with Combs, who is currently jailed at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after he was again denied bail on Monday. Judge Arun Subramanian cited Combs’ violence in his personal relationships — the same reason he denied Combs bail on the day of the verdict.
Combs, 55, was convicted on July 2 of two counts alleging violations of the Mann Act, a law that makes it a federal crime to transport someone across state lines for prostitution. Each count carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Combs will get credit for time served, and prosecutors have said he should get at least 51 to 63 months imprisonment on the two convictions, or a sentence of roughly four to five years.
Asked if he has any regrets about how he tried the case, Agnifilo replied, “Not really, not really.”
Controversial moments at trial
During the trial, Agnifilo described the relationship between Combs and former girlfriend Cassie Ventura as “a great modern love story.”
But Ventura, who testified against him, has said she was raped, physically abused and became addicted to drugs because of Combs.
Agnifilo said they “vehemently deny” the rape allegation, and in the interview, he stood by his depiction of the relationship.
“In terms of the, you know, the drugs and the other stuff … that’s what makes it a modern love story,” he said. “I think they really did love each other. I think she very much loved him and I know he very much loved her.”
“I mean, these are two people who hurt each other, loved each other, cheated on each other,” he said.
Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, rejects Agnifilo’s description of the relationship, telling CBS News that it is a “complete disgrace and affront” to survivors of domestic violence.
Agnifilo, a former prosecutor turned criminal defense attorney, has had other high-profile cases in his 35-year career, including the trial of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere and Martin “Pharma Bro” Shkreli, but none as highly publicized as the trial of Combs.
“I’ve been blessed to have a lot of cases that people care about, but nothing, nothing close to this,” Agnifilo said, adding that it put a lot of pressure on him and his team.
“A lot of pressure because, you know, Sean Combs — I mean, I, I believed in my heart that he was innocent.”
Asked what Combs wants the public to know, Agnifilo said his client has been reflecting on “the blessings that he’s been given, on the imperfections that I think he sees in himself.”
He said Combs is focusing on his family, and that the hip-hop mogul has also mentioned a future goal: “He said to me he’s going to be back at Madison Square Garden.”
