Donald Trump is reportedly considering commuting Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ 50-month federal prison sentence as early as next week.
Content Note: This article discusses sexual violence, abuse, and institutional betrayal. Reader discretion is advised.
According to TMZ, a so-called “high-ranking White House official,” revealed that the President is “vacillating” over the commutation, despite some staffers urging caution. So far, Trump has acknowledged that Diddy has requested a pardon.1
These developments arrive in the shadow of a broader pattern: from Jeffrey Epstein and his international sex trafficking ring, to the pending case of Diddy, the question emerges: who matters under this presidency — and who doesn’t?
The Ongoing Marginalization of Abuse Victims
Victim-survivors of sexual abuse, particularly those connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s widespread exploitation of children, have long held that the system failed them. For many, the initial outrage was not only about the crimes themselves but about the institutions that allowed them — and that continue to allow them — to be ignored, minimized, or silenced.
To understand the nature of the betrayal occurring under the leadership of Donald Trump, let’s turn to the work of psychologist Jennifer J. Freyd. Dr. Freyd introduced the acronym DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) to describe the manipulation tactic abuse perpetrators often use to escape accountability: they deny the harm, attack the credibility of the victim, and reverse the roles so that they position themselves as the “real” victims.2 3
Freyd further extends this concept into what she calls “Institutional DARVO” — when organizations, agencies or entire administrations engage in the same pattern of denial, attack and reversal in order to protect perpetrators or silence victim-survivors. 4 The result is not merely individual betrayal but systemic harm: the institution betrays those who depend on it for protection and justice.5
Why The Diddy Outcome Matters
When Trump considers commuting Diddy’s sentence — while delaying the release of the Epstein files and rewarding convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell with a transfer to a minimum security prison — what is signalled is larger than one case. It is the message: the powerful matter and the vulnerable do not.
Diddy, a billionaire music mogul, can access the White House and ask for mercy. In other words, status, money and celebrity confer strategic advantage to him despite his crimes. Meanwhile, the same presidency that trumpets law-and-order publicly may privately shape outcomes that are the diametrical opposite through its pardon or commutation power.
The TMZ article reports that Diddy is serving 50-months in prison for violating the Mann Act, and has served 13 months, meaning he could in theory be out in around two years — but that calculation becomes moot if the President commutes his sentence.6
On October 6, 2025, Reuters reported that Trump publicly said he would “take a look” at possibly pardoning Maxwell — who was convicted for assisting Epstein in the sexual abuse and trafficking of children — and acknowledged that Diddy had asked for a pardon.7
It’s hard to shake the sense that the institutions of justice – including the presidency, the Department of Justice, the pardon power – seem to be operating in a parallel moral universe for the powerful.
What Does Institutional DARVO Look Like?
What might Institutional DARVO look like in practice?
- Deny: The institution insists there is no wrongdoing, or that the wrongdoing is exaggerated or isolated.
- Attack: The institution attacks victims or whistle-blowers, questioning their credibility, motives or mental stability.
- Reverse victim and offender: The institution frames itself (or its leaders) as victims of unfair accusations, or places the victims in the role of aggressor.
In the case of the Epstein network, one could point to the repeated failures to release full transcripts, records and files; to public statements that the worst had been addressed; to invalidating the experiences of victim-survivors by dismissing the investigation as a hoax; to powerful figures who moved on with minimal accountability.8
Now, if the presidency commutes Diddy’s sentence — or pardons Maxwell — the message to victims becomes: the system still bends toward those with access, status and allies. That is Institutional DARVO: the denial of full accountability, the attack on victims’ credibility (implicitly or explicitly), and the reversal of roles whereby the powerful claim persecution, or ‘political targeting,’ rather than being held to account.
Where Does This Leave Survivors?
For survivors of sexual violence, the trauma is not only the event itself but the ongoing betrayal that ensues: the sense that the institution meant to respond, protect and punish did not. Freyd’s research shows that institutional betrayal exacerbates trauma and hinders recovery.9
Furthermore, research shows that DARVO is associated with increased victim-blaming, decreased credibility of survivors, and more tolerance for sexual harassment and assault in society. A 2024 PLOS One study found strong correlations between the use of DARVO and acceptance of rape myths.10 11
The bottomline is that when institutions act as though they are the aggrieved party or protect the perpetrator rather than the survivor, the survivors are re‐victimized.
Systemic Injustice At Scale
What does it mean that Trump is even considering commuting Diddy’s sentence? What does it say about the architecture of power and justice in the free world under his leadership? The courage of a system is measured not when it comforts the protected, but when it upholds the unprotected.
Freyd offers “institutional courage” as a counter-model: transparency, accountability, and reckoning.12 Yet the current signals from the Trump administration are pointing the other direction.
Trump’s supporters may well point to his base argument: that the pardon power is his right, that he is free to show mercy, and that Diddy (or Maxwell) may deserve it in their worldview. But survivors, and those who track institutional behavior, hear something different: that a system of justice may be bending again toward privilege and fame, rather than toward equity and truth.
If the victims of Epstein, Maxwell and now Diddy see the same pattern repeating, the betrayal is not merely personal. It is structural.
And when the presidency sits at the center of that structure, the stakes are higher than any one case.
Final Thoughts
In a nation that pledges “liberty and justice for all,” the promise is only as strong as the least protected among us. When that promise is tested and broken, it damages individuals and trust in institutions themselves.
As Donald Trump flirts with commuting Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sentence – at the expense of justice for survivors of sexual abuse – the question is not only who receives mercy, but who is denied it, and why. The answer may reveal the true depth of this administration’s retreat from upholding human rights and its enduring loyalty to the billionaire class.
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References
Here is a selection of the sources used in this article:
- Jansen, Bart. (2025, October 6). Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs asked Trump for a pardon, the president says. USA Today. ↩︎
- Freyd, Jennifer J. What is DARVO? Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD. ↩︎
- Wakefield, Manya. (2020, April 30). DARVO: How Narcissists Escape Accountability. Narcissistic Abuse Rehab. ↩︎
- Freyd, Jennifer J. (2013). Institutional Betrayal and Institutional Courage. Center for Institutional Courage. University of Oregon. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- TMZ Staff. (2025, October 20). Trump Considering Commuting Sentence This Week. TMZ. ↩︎
- Holland, Steven, and Mason, Jeff. (2025, October 7). Trump says he will talk to DOJ about Maxwell pardon, says Diddy asked for one. Reuters. ↩︎
- Walker, Josephine. (2025, September 5). Trump decries Epstein “hoax” despite Republicans demanding transparency. Axios. ↩︎
- Freyd. Institutional Betrayal. ↩︎
- Pengelly, Martin. (2024, December 4). Commonly used defense tactic strongly correlates with acceptance of rape myths – study. The Guardian. ↩︎
- Sarah J. Harsey , Alexis A. Adams-Clark, Jennifer J. Freyd. (2024, December 4). Associations between defensive victim-blaming responses (DARVO), rape myth acceptance, and sexual harassment. PLOS One. ↩︎
- Freyd. Institutional Betrayal. ↩︎
