Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs are demanding an investigation into whether federal authorities leaked evidence of the racketeering and sex trafficking case to the media, including the infamous surveillance video of Combs assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie in 2016.
In a scathing court filing late on Wednesday (Oct. 9), Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo claims there has been “a series of unlawful government leaks, which have led to damaging, highly prejudicial pre-trial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial.”
Agnifilo calls the leak of the Cassie video the “most egregious example” of the problem, but says it was just “one of a long and documented history of leaks and false statements made with one purpose: to savage Mr. Combs’ reputation prior to trial.”
“While the government’s misconduct in this case is particularly egregious, it is unfortunately part of a trend in this district — the government has learned that it can strategically leak information with impunity,” Agnifilo wrote.
The filing asks the judge overseeing the case to order a hearing into the allegations and to allow Combs’ lawyers to seek out evidence of such leaks from prosecutors and law enforcement. It also asks the judge to issue a gag order barring any further leaks, and to prevent prosecutors from citing any leaked evidence during the eventual trial.
Combs, also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, was once one of the most powerful men in the music industry. But last month, he was indicted by federal prosecutors over accusations of sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and bribery. If convicted on all the charges, he potentially faces a sentence of life in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Combs ran a sprawling criminal operation aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification.” The charges detailed “freak offs” in which Combs and others would allegedly ply victims with drugs and then coerce them into having sex with male sex workers, as well as alleged acts of violence and intimidation to keep victims silent.
“For decades, Sean Combs … abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment. “To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled.”
That indictment was preceded by repeated media reports that a federal criminal probe of Combs was underway, as well as well-publicized law enforcement raids on his Miami and Los Angeles homes. In the filing on Wednesday, Agnifilo said that media coverage had been fed by “a steady stream of false and prejudicial statements” and leaks from federal agents at the Department of Homeland Security.
The filing also alleges that government employees had “repeatedly leaked grand jury information and materials to the press to raise public hostility against Mr. Combs.” Agnifilo pointed specifically to the Cassie video, which showed Combs striking his then-girlfriend in the hallway of a hotel and made headlines when CNN released it in May
“The videotape was leaked to CNN for one reason alone: to mortally wound the reputation and the prospect of Sean Combs successfully defending himself against these allegations,” Agnifilo wrote. “Rather than using the videotape as trial evidence, alongside other evidence that gives it context and meaning, the agents misused it in the most prejudicial and damaging way possible. The government knew what it had: a frankly deplorable video recording of Sean Combs in a towel hitting, kicking and dragging a woman in full view of a camera in the hallway of the hotel.”
