Megyn Kelly warned President Donald Trump is in danger of having ‘another Epstein’ situation on his hands if he decides to pardon Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
The former Fox News personality made a gloomy prediction on Wednesday while responding to rumors that Trump is ‘seriously considering’ pardoning the hip hop mogul after a conviction on prostitution-related charges.
Kelly advised Trump against entertaining such a decision, contending it would have grave consequences since the president is already under scrutiny from his supporters for not disclosing an alleged list of associates connected to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
According to Kelly, the Epstein matter has given the ‘MAGA base’ the impression that Trump is aligned with the elite group they despise. She noted that they supported Trump because he vowed to oppose this elite circle.
Pardoning Diddy ‘would not help’ Trump shake that reputation, ‘not at all,’ she continued, arguing the case against the rapper is ‘the same thing.’
‘There’s already suspicion of a cover-up,’ Kelly stated, alluding to other well-known celebrities who were allegedly given access to young women and substances at Diddy’s infamous parties.
Kelly suggested that if the president were to pardon him now, it could harm the Republican Party, which is reportedly already struggling to maintain support among female voters.
‘This action would send a message to these young vulnerable women that they lack importance, and even the leading Republican president will conceal any misconduct concerning such victims,’ she asserted.
Megyn Kelly warned President Donald Trump he is in danger of having ‘another Epstein’ situation on his hand if he were to pardon Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Reports emerged Tuesday that the president is ‘strongly considering’ pardoning the hip hop mogul over his prostitution charges
The president is already under hot water with his base for his decision not to release an alleged list of late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s clients
‘It just cannot happen,’ Kelly continued, noting that the Republican Party is already struggling to retain young female voters.
‘And they’re not all lefties,’ she said. ‘There are young conservative women who aren’t in love with Trump or MAGA. And this will not help.’
Even without the political ramifications, Kelly said pardoning the I’ll Be Missing You singer would be a ‘miscarriage of justice.’
She said Diddy should ‘serve time’ because he ‘admitted expressly’ that he was a domestic abuser.
‘He beat those women to a pulp and didn’t even deny it,’ Kelly said, incredulously.
‘He got away with it. He was only found guilty on these two minor charges… let him at least serve the time on those.’
The 55-year-old mogul was acquitted on three of his most serious charges earlier this month, when he was found not guilty of sex-trafficking and racketeering.
Combs was only instead convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, which could see him spend 10 years behind bars.
A presidential pardon has been talked of since the beginning of Combs’ trial, and Trump even indicated in May that he was open to the idea
Combs is set to receive his sentencing on October 3 and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison
As the judge prepares his punishment for the former producer over prostitution charges, a source told Deadline that Trump has been mulling stepping in to offer reprieve.
Insiders told the outlet that the idea had advanced from ‘just another Trump weave to an actionable event.’
Closed door discussions about a potential pardon reached fever pitch in May when Trump acknowledged Diddy’s case with reporters.
While he admitted he hasn’t paid close attention to the trial, Trump suggested he would be open to the idea of pardoning his one-time friend.
‘I’d look at what’s happening,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen him, I haven’t spoken to him in years.
‘He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics he sort of, that relationship busted up from what I read. I don’t know. He didn’t tell me that, but I’d read some nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden.’
‘So, I don’t know. I would certainly look at the facts. if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me it wouldn’t have any impact,’ he concluded.
Trump later addressed the case again in the Oval Office, and said: ‘nobody’s asked but I know people are thinking about it.’
‘I know they’re thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking,’ he added.
Trump has previously called Diddy a ‘good friend’
Attorney John Koufos, who recently met with Trump’s pardon ‘tsar’ Alice Marie Johnson and pardon attorney Ed Martin, now tells the Daily Mail elements of the case fit with Trump’s push against ‘overcriminalization’ and ‘weaponization’ in charging.
The president had himself been charged with a racketeering conspiracy in the Georgia election interference case, and he has long railed against what he calls weaponization of the criminal justice system.
Analysts watching the Diddy case have previously questioned whether the government also overcharged the rapper, and Koufos wondered how the defendant could be engaging in a RICO conspiracy by themselves.
‘Had he been convicted of a RICO [charge], you’d be looking at something different,’ he argued, though he said there was ‘nothing particularly sympathetic’ about the defendant.
Diddy is now set to be sentenced on October 3 unless the president intervenes despite Kelly’s warnings.
