Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail this week as he awaits his October sentencing after being found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. On Thursday, his lead attorney for the trial, Marc Agnifilo, discussed what’s next for the disgraced music mogul — including the logistics behind a possible pardon.
However, it was the lawyer’s comments about his client’s past relationship with ex-girlfriend and accuser/plaintiff Cassie that stood out in his first network sit-down interview following last month’s split verdict.
“The rape we vehemently deny. I respect that she said that, I don’t think the jury concluded that that happened,” Agnifilo told CBS Mornings’ Jericka Duncan. “In terms of the drugs and the other stuff, I think that’s what makes it a modern love story. I think she very much loved him and I know he very much loved her.”
In response, Cassie’s attorney Doug Wilder told CBS News that the comments were a “complete disgrace and an affront to survivors of domestic violence.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Agnifilo admitted he has “nothing to do” with the possibility of President Donald Trump granting Diddy a pardon: “I think he knows I’m not political. We’ve never discussed it, apart from I tell him what’s in the news about it.”
The rapper’s attorney also explained what could happen at his sentencing, tentatively set for Oct. 3. “I tell him what the guidelines are — and the guidelines are about two or three years — and I tell him the judge could go above the guidelines,” Agnifilo shared.
Diddy was found not guilty on one count of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking by force after the seven-week trial where 34 witnesses gave testimony in regards to his five federal charges. In the end, he dodged a life sentence.
According to Duncan, Agnifilo also noted that Diddy wanted to testify in the trial, eventually wants to perform onstage again at Madison Square Garden and “has the tremendous misfortune of having lawyers all around him all the time,” when it comes to legal fees.
The White House declined to comment to CBS on speculation about any potential pardon, indicating that a decision would ultimately come directly from Trump himself.
