R. Kelly is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, amidst claims from his attorney that he is being subjected to solitary confinement in retaliation for requesting home confinement over safety concerns.Attorney Beau Brindley revealed he has been in contact with individuals close to President Donald Trump, seeking his intervention in the case. Speaking to Variety, the attorney argued, “I think it’s a particular interest to President Trump because, unlike most people who come to this with an air of skepticism, [he] has a personal unique understanding of what it’s like to be victimized by prosecution teams and put through that experience through corrupt and criminal hacks.” Brindley went on to add, “He understands what that’s like, and when he knows that it’s being escalated to the point of a death threat to hide the corruption that we’re trying to put out there, he’s perhaps the only person that there is who is going to have the courage to pull the trigger and say I want to stop it now.”The Grammy-winning artist, currently serving a 30-year sentence at a federal facility in North Carolina for racketeering and violations of the Mann Act involving the sexual exploitation of minors, filed an emergency motion earlier this week alleging serious threats to his life behind bars.In the motion filed Tuesday, attorney Brindley alleged that prison officials had “solicited an inmate to murder Kelly,” leading to the singer’s current placement in solitary confinement. Brindley claims the conditions are not protective but punitive in nature.“Where he’s sleeping now, he has spiders crawling all over him,” Brindley told Variety. “This isn’t protection — it’s punishment for pursuing this. So he remains in solitary. He has not eaten for three days because he’s been only offered food that’s coming directly from the chow halls that’s prepared by the inmates, which he was warned not to eat by one of the officials at the prison who we left anonymous for his own security.”Brindley also alleged in the filing that government officials violated attorney-client privilege by intercepting confidential communications to secure Kelly’s conviction and that the threats against his life began as retaliation for attempting to expose this alleged misconduct.“He’s begging me to find a way to help him, because this isn’t right,” Brindley added. “And I’m going to do everything in my power to do it.”
