‘Seriously': Donald Trump considering Sean ‘Diddy' Combs pardon
An administration source told Deadline that a pardon for the 'Act Bad' rapper is being 'seriously considered' after Combs was found guilty of two counts of prostitution.
'The White House will not confirm or deny pardons that may or may not happen,' Page Six reports, citing a source.
In May, Trump, 79, first shared that he was potentially willing to pardon Combs amid the rapper's sex-trafficking trial.
'I would certainly look at the facts if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me,' the politician said in the Oval Office at the time.
'It wouldn't have any impact on me,' he added.
Trump then shared details about his personal relationship with the disgraced MC.
'He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics … that relationship busted up, from what I read,' he said.
'I don't know — he didn't tell me that, but I'd read some little bit nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden,' the president added.
On July 2, Combs, 55, was acquitted of the more serious charges in his sex-trafficking trial.
However, the Revolt co-founder was found guilty of two counts of prostitution — each carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison.
During the trial, jurors heard from a range of people, including Combs' ex Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, who claimed she was raped and abused by the hip-hop mogul.
In one part of her gruelling testimony, the singer, 38, claimed Combs forced a male escort to urinate in her mouth during a 'Freak-Off' party.
The dad of seven is behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY, as he awaits his sentencing.
While incarcerated, Combs reportedly enrolled in the STOP Program, a course focused on preventing sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, and is undergoing therapy.
The 'I'll Be Missing You' rapper is still facing dozens of lawsuits from men and women, accusing him of a range of sexual misconduct and other illegal activity. He has denied all wrongdoing.
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West Australian
42 minutes ago
- West Australian
Donald Trump news: The US President is finally winning ... but at what cost to the rest of us?
Are you tired of winning yet? That was the question the United States Treasury Secretary asked his followers as he retweeted a White House post that celebrated $US150 billion in tariff revenues over an image of Donald Trump. It pains me to say it but the US is winning. It has used its economic weight to bake in higher prices for its trade partners without coming up against any serious opposition, except China who has for years has exploited its economic strength to undercut everyone else. We are now in a world comparative advantage — the notion that each country should specialise in what it produces most efficiently, and trades for what the other does better — is being replaced by zero-sum game. The prosperity of the past 75 years was built on fostering efficient production and it worked pretty well. Despite Trump's Make America Great Again rhetoric about how unfairly it has been treated, GDP per capita has gone up and to the right steadily since the Second World War to a record $US86,000. By comparison Australia's is $US64,000. China's is a mere $US13,303. America's ability to innovate has allowed it to pivot from a manufacturing heavy economy to services-driven one, as Japan, then Taiwan, then China built up their own industrial bases. And it has worked out pretty well for all concerned. Two billion people have been lifted out of poverty in the past 75 years, 800 million alone in the last 40 years as a result of China's shift to 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' as Deng Xiaoping termed it. But Donald Trump, whose overriding philosophy has always been more; more women, more money, more acclaim, more gold tchotchkes, has decided that America should have more. And it will. As nations cave to tariff pressure to gain access to US markets, any exporter who lacks uniqueness will have no choice but race to the bottom in terms of what they will offer their American clients. I like to call it the fruit stand analogy. If I am but one seller in a crowded market, I have no choice but to lower my prices to that of my rivals. To keep my business going, I'll drop my margins to the clearing price. But in this market that Donald Trump has created, it won't be the base price that I will compete on, it will be the tariff I pass through to my customers. With that, Trump is tilting the playing field in the US's favour, subsidising American companies and funding US the budget, while reducing the available revenue that would go towards innovation, wages or reinvestment in foreign firms. Of course, the companies could say they are not going to cop that tariff hit, but if the leaders of the ten largest nations can't coordinate, how could millions of firms? There was one force that has restrained Trump in the past — the markets. In his first term he used the stock market as a barometer, and in this term the bond market held some sway. But after the dramatic drop following 'Liberation Day', US stock markets have soared to be higher than the start of the year. Bond markets have had a convulsion or two along the way but not enough to change the course of tariffs — although they have stayed the executioner's hand over Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Despite almost every commentator suggesting tariffs are an 'act of economic self harm', markets have effectively rewarded Trump's behaviour. Are you tired of winning yet? 'When I reflect on year-to-date performance, I feel like pinching myself. Despite trade wars, battlefield wars and deteriorating fiscal policy, the US market rose in the first half,' said Michael Clarfeld of global fund manager ClearBridge Investments. 'To be bullish today, one must believe the market will sustain levels never previously sustained, rather than trade at the levels it usually trades at. When phrased like that, why would any risk-averse investor bet heavily on the former?' And yet they are betting on it. In a recent market update, Blackrock, the world largest fund manager with $US11.6 trillion under management, said that investors can't afford not to have US equities as part of their portfolio. It's a dilemma fund managers around the world are facing. Their remuneration is dependent on meeting or exceeding benchmark returns. And the outsized returns continue to be most common in US companies. The sad part about that, is that superannuation and pension holders globally are inadvertently rewarding the actions that are harming their own long-term interests — namely the very companies they work for. Joseph Healy, a lifelong banker who has worked around the world including at NAB before founding Judo Bank believes the cognitive dissonance is symptomatic of a system where 'capitalism captured by capitalists'. 'We have created a market system that favours short-term driven returns, and that drives the behaviour of executives and boards,' Mr Healy said. 'This insane focus on the short term and chasing alpha returns without the regard to the system risks that are being built up can lead to dangerous outcomes.' Mr Healy, a Scot, has written a new book looking at what another Scot and philosophical founder of capitalism, Adam Smith, would make of the Australian economy. He believes Smith would not like what he sees, and would be dismayed by the rising inequality of a growing pie being consumed by smaller and smaller numbers of people. 'Smith always believed in fairness and equity. You can't have an economy which is prosperous if inequality gets worse and worse. 'Young people are becoming disillusioned, companies are damaging the environment at the expense of long-term sustainability and executives are being paid excessive amounts of money despite behaving in ways that are not consistent with our moral and ethical values.' Mr Healy, who has worked in both the US and the UK banking sectors said Australia is 'sleepwalking into danger' but is not yet at the point of the US and the UK where confidence has been lost in the establishment. 'Britain is on a very slippery slope and I fear America may be beyond repair despite the economic wealth, as the gap between the haves and the have nots is frightening,' he said. With Trump's tariffs, the haves will continue to do well, especially at the top, where tariff revenue is paying for tax cuts. America's have nots may yet find good jobs in reshored manufacturing but for now, everyone gets a bit less. In Australia, the superannuation sector has some factors that keep it looking at the long term. Estelle Parker, co-chief executive of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia, said the wave of young people contributing to super is a factor in investment decisions. 'They are thinking more about the impact of world events and climate change,' Ms Parker said. 'And the number who want to invest ethically and responsibly is going up every year.' Australian funds are among the more active on issues like climate, with 35 per cent of investors voting for in favour of Macquarie sticking to its climate commitments at the most recent AGM. 'We know the global economy is going to be far worse off under climate change,' said Kyle Robertson investor activist Market Forces. 'Returns over the long term will be worse if companies don't act as active stewards.' In all the euphoria that led markets higher amid Trump's economic turmoil, here's hoping investors can take more notice of the long term.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Hillary Clinton OK'd plan to ‘smear' Donald Trump with Russia collusion, documents prove
Hillary Clinton signed off on a plan hatched by a top campaign adviser to 'smear' then-candidate Donald Trump with false claims of Russian collusion and distract from her own mounting email scandal during the 2016 campaign, according to explosive intelligence files declassified Thursday. The 24-page intelligence annex was compiled from memos and emails obtained by the Obama administration in the lead-up to Election Day that laid out 'confidential conversations' between leaders of the Democratic National Committee — including then-Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz — and liberal billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundations. The plot, the brainchild of the Clinton campaign's then-foreign policy adviser, Julianne Smith, included 'raising the theme of 'Putin's support for Trump'' and 'subsequently steering public opinion toward the notion that it needs to equate' the Russian leader's political influence campaign with actual hacking of election infrastructure. Smith would go on to serve as former President Joe Biden's ambassador to NATO. 'I don't have any comment,' she told The Post when reached by phone Thursday. Open Society senior vice president Leonard Benardo was looped in on the scheme and laid out its intended effect in a series of emails in late July 2016. 'Julie [sic] says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,' Benardo was quoted as writing July 25. 'Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.' Two days later, Benardo wrote: 'HRC approved Julia's idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections. That should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level,' an apparent reference to revelations of a massive state-sponsored doping campaign by Russia following the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. 'The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue,' Benardo also stated. 'In absence of direct evidence, Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect will supply the media, and GRU [Russia's foreign intelligence arm] will hopefully carry on to give more facts.' Special counsel John Durham uncovered the files during a multi-year probe into intelligence activities during the 2016 election. Durham consulted the FBI and CIA, both of which assessed that the information was 'likely authentic' but couldn't corroborate exact copies of the Benardo emails with Open Society Foundations. The CIA also determined that the intelligence was not 'the product of Russian fabrications.' 'Smith was, at minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign's efforts to tie Trump to Russia,' Durham concluded. The Trump-Russia investigation was part of what a March 2016 memo included in the annex described as a 'two-prong DP [Democratic Party] opposition [that] is focused on discrediting Trump…. [a]mong other things, the Clinton staff, with support from special services, is preparing scandalous revelations of business relations between Trump and the 'Russian Mafia.'' The 'special services' cited in one of the memos referred to intelligence activities of Obama's CIA and FBI, which may have included the work of 'Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.' The memos also claim then-President Barack Obama was 'put[ing] pressure on FBI Director James Comey through Attorney General [Loretta] Lynch' to wrap up the probe of Clinton's use of a private email server to receive highly classified information while secretary of state. 'Obama,' a January 2016 memo read, 'has no intention to darken the final part of his presidency and 'legacy' by the scandal surrounding the main contender from the [Democratic Party].' The March 2016 memo claimed the 44th president had 'sanctioned the use of all administrative levers to remove possibly negative effects from the FBI investigation of cases related to the Clinton Foundation and the email correspondence in the State Department.' In December 2016, Obama ordered a post-election intelligence assessment of nefarious Russian activity surrounding that year's election. That assessment, published in January 2017 included — over the objections of senior CIA officials — details from the Steele dossier, an opposition research project funded in part by Clinton's campaign and the DNC. In March 2016, then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe shared the memos with senior officials at the Department of Justice, suggesting a plot to launch an investigation based on the Democratic campaign document. 'During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated … technical structures … in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications,' one Benardo email read. Durham concluded: 'The Office's best assessment is that the … emails that purport to be from Benardo were ultimately a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based Think Tanks, including the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Endowment, and others.' Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and other members of the US Intelligence Community declassified the Durham annex at the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). 'Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton's political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means,' Grassley said in a statement. 'These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years. History will show that the Obama and Biden administration's law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump,' he added. 'This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history. The new Trump administration has a tremendous responsibility to the American people to fix the damage done and do so with maximum speed and transparency.' Ratcliffe said in a statement that the files — some of which came from the CIA — showed 'a coordinated plan to prevent and destroy Donald Trump's presidency.' Bondi and Patel insisted that the public disclosures would restore Americans' trust in the government and provide accountability. 'This Department of Justice, alongside the CIA, is committed to truth and transparency and will continue to support good-faith efforts by Congress to hold our government accountable,' Bondi said. 'Chairman Grassley is leading by example and shining light on critical issues of great interest to the American people.' 'The American people deserve the full, unfiltered truth about the Russia collusion hoax and the political abuse of our justice system it exposed,' added Patel. 'Today's declassification and release of documents tied to the Durham report is another step toward that accountability.' 'I'm grateful to Chairman Grassley for his steadfast leadership on this issue, and I look forward to our continued partnership in exposing one of the most shameful frauds ever perpetrated on the American public.' The Post reached out to Benardo, reps for Clinton and the Open Society Foundations for comment. Originally published as Hillary Clinton OK'd plan to 'smear' Donald Trump with Russia collusion, documents prove
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
‘They asked for that beat down': Man and woman bashed by mob in horrifying viral footage
WARNING: Graphic content Sickening footage of a man and woman being brutally bashed by a mob in Cincinnati, Ohio has sparked nationwide outrage in the US. Five people have since been charged over the attack in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, after the disturbing clip showing a middle-aged woman being knocked out cold and left with blood pouring from her mouth set the internet ablaze this week. The video appeared to show a white man and woman being targeted by a group of largely black assailants as onlookers jeer and yell. The male victim, wearing a white T-shirt, is brutally bashed by a large crowd of men and women, who take turns stomping and punching his head in a prolonged attack as he cowers on the ground. He eventually gets to his feet, blood covering his face. A woman is then attacked from behind by another woman before being sucker punched in the face by a man, falling backwards onto the road where she lays unconscious for around 30 seconds before she is eventually helped up by onlookers. The victims, reportedly tourists attending the city's famous Cincinnati Jazz Festival, sustained serious injuries, including a concussion. The attack took place on the corner of Fourth and Elm Street, in front of around 100 revellers. On Wednesday night, Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno shared gruesome images on social media of the injuries sustained by the female victim, identified only as Holly. 'This is Holly,' he wrote. 'She wanted to have a nice evening out with friends. Instead, she got this.' The grim images show Holly with a huge black eye and busted lip, with one showing dark bruises across her entire face and neck. 'When I saw the video [I] thought she had been killed,' Mr Moreno told Fox News' Fox & Friends on Thursday, adding that the images of her injuries were 'so graphic, so horrible'. 'Holly gave me permission to release the photos so that others will never suffer what she did.' Mr Moreno told local news outlet WCPO Holly was a middle-aged woman with a special-needs child, who had since been in out and out of hospital multiple times. He said the 'mob didn't do anything about it' and that after the attack 'one police officer came by … nobody called an ambulance, the police didn't take her to get her aid, she took an Uber home'. The Senator blasted the response from local politicians in the wake of the violence — including Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks, who claimed in a social media post that the victims were asking to be assaulted. 'They asked for that beat down,' Ms Parks replied to video on Facebook. 'I am grateful for the whole story.' The 67-year-old Democrat angered Cincinnati's police union boss, who blasted Ms Parks for the comments and called for her resignation. Ms Parks began serving in her seat in January 2022. She announced she would not be seeking re-election for this year's general election and her plans to retire this past January. Her Facebook account says she was formerly the commissioner at Hamilton County, Ohio, after she served as the former chief of staff to Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune. In her official city biography page, Parks says she 'led the charge in passing Racism as a Public Health Crisis' when working for Hamilton County. 'It's unconscionable that an elected official would be celebrating violence in the very city she was voted to serve,' Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police president Ken Kober told Fox News Digital. 'This highlights the poor political environment that police officers, residents and visitors are currently enduring. Thankfully, there's an election in November. I urge voters to vote for change!' Republican State Representative Phil Plummer also demanded Ms Parks step down. 'Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks must resign immediately! Defending violent criminals who viciously beat innocent people is disgusting,' Mr Plummer said on X. 'Her words 'They begged for that beat down!' are outrageous. Prosecutors must charge the attackers with a hate crime. We must protect our streets!' Mr Moreno said he would ask federal agencies to pull funding from the city if leaders do not 'put together an action plan … to protect the civil rights of their citizens'. 'This is what political leaders in Cincinnati are allowing,' he told Fox & Friends. 'These idiotic political leaders that the citizens allow to have office need to go. I'm going to call on all federal agencies to review the funding that we provide Cincinnati and I'm giving the leaders of Cincinnati one month to come up with a plan for them to protect civil rights for their citizens. If they don't do it … I'm going to ask the agencies to suspend all federal funding because we're not going to put up with this.' He continued, 'The police chief blames social media. The city council person blamed the victim. This is a total travesty. I'm not going to put up with it. Ohio deserves better and Cincinnati certainly does too.' Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval responded publicly late Monday, after the beating had been circulated for about 36 hours. He has been on holiday in Canada all week, and finally announced plans to cut his vacation short and return to the city on Thursday. Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge announced on Tuesday five people had been charged in the beat down. Montianez Merriweather, 34, and Dekyra Vernon, 24, were arrested on Tuesday night. Both face felonious assault, aggravated riot and assault charges. Merriweather is being held on a $US500,000 bond, while Vernon is being held on a $US200,000 bond. A third suspect, Jermaine Matthews, was also taken into custody and charged with aggravated riot and assault. He is being held on a $US100,000 bond. Police allege Merriweather and Matthews co-ordinated the 'ambush' attack. 'Ultimately, we do have on video Mr Merriweather walking up to co-defendant. He whispers something to him, then walks back behind the victim,' a Cincinnati Police detective testified in court Wednesday, according to WXIX. 'As to Merriweather's involvement in this, we believe he co-ordinated this with Mr Matthews. He walked up to him on the video, whispered something to him and then strategically placed himself behind the victim as the assault began.' Matthews had a bond hearing on Thursday, where he was charged with two felony assault charges, along with another assault charge. His bond was raised to $US270,000. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Brandon Fox, told the court that Matthews did not start the fight. 'That video that we discussed yesterday has now been released of that individual slapping on my client and then the fight ensuing thereafter,' he said. Mr Fox also said that Matthews is not responsible for knocking one of the victims out, though it is unclear to which victim he is referring. 'That person was knocked unconscious by a different individual, and my client moved that person from his business vehicle. That's where the basis of that charge comes from,' Mr Fox said. He also made claims that one of the victims used racial slurs before the fight. The Cincinnati Police detective disputed that the slap began the fight. He told the judge that 'we have video footage that totally disputes the slap being the first incident of someone putting their hands on someone'. Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor David Hickenlooper also weighed in. 'This person is unconscious,' he said of the victim. 'He wasn't rendering aid. He was dragging him into the middle of the street after he had been knocked out. This is my understanding.' Police say charges have been filed against two more people, who are not yet in custody. The attack is now under federal investigation by FBI and Justice Department. 'Every American is entitled to the equal protection of our laws,' Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney-General for Civil Rights at the US Department of Justice, wrote on X. 'Federal law enforcement is on it and we will ensure that justice is done.' On Thursday, Fox News Digital obtained audio recording of the sole 911 call after the brawl. A dazed-sounding man called authorities around 3am on July 26. The call lasted three minutes and 15 seconds, as the 911 operator asked a litany of questions, including how many people had been involved in the fight. It was placed after the brutal beat down had ended, the caller indicated. 'So you keep saying they left, do you need police to respond out?' she asked toward the end of the call. 'I would prefer, yes,' the man said. 'I would prefer, yes. Absolutely.' Ms Theetge said out of the 100 or so people on the scene, the man was the only one to call 911. 'That is unacceptable to not call the police,' she said in a news conference earlier this week. 'Traffic was horrendous. People saw this. They were fighting in front of traffic. Why didn't people call us?'
