Sean Combs‘ lawyers have accused the U.S. government of leaking evidence of the racketeering and sex trafficking case to the media, including a 2016 hotel surveillance video showing the disgraced mogul physically attacking the singer Cassie Ventura.
Per a court filing Wednesday obtained by Rolling Stone, Combs’ legal team is demanding an evidentiary hearing to investigate “government misconduct in connection with the leaks.” His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, claims that the alleged government leaks “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 called the video from the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles the most “egregious example” of the alleged misconduct, but said it was “one of a long and documented history of leaks and false statements made with one purpose: to savage Mr. Combs’ reputation prior to trial.”
In May, CNN unearthed footage of Combs chasing his then-girlfriend Ventura down a hotel hallway, where he proceeded to throw, kick, stomp, and drag her. The brutal video was dated March 5, 2016, and appeared to correspond to an alleged incident from a sex-trafficking lawsuit filed by Ventura last November.
The surveillance footage prompted Combs to post an apology video two days later to social media. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he said at the time. “I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, and I’m disgusted now.”
Along with the evidentiary hearing, Combs’ attorneys are requesting government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, to reveal emails, documents and records related to the alleged leaks; a gag order barring government personnel from disclosing case evidence or investigative material to the media; and the suppression of any leaked evidence during the upcoming trial.
Combs, once a leading and revered figure in the music industry, has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and interstate transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors have accused Combs of using his vast wealth and influence to run a criminal enterprise centered on “his own sexual gratification” between 2008 and this year. The charges carry the possibility of life in prison.
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He is being held without bail after he was arrested in New York City on Sept. 16. His next hearing is set for Thursday in New York.
The Bad Boy Entertainment founder is also facing nearly a dozen civil lawsuits brought against him by several women and one man who claim Combs sexually assaulted them. The alleged assaults date back from 1990 to as recently as this summer.
