Earlier this month, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers accused the government of unjustly leaking evidence. This included the hotel surveillance video that shows him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie in 2016, which they argue has damaged the Bad Boy founder’s right to a fair trial. On Wednesday (Oct. 30), government attorneys have responded to the leaking allegations.
In a newly filed motion, prosecutors claim Diddy’s legal team is attempting to “suppress a damning piece of evidence,” per Billboard. They say they were not even in possesion of the video in May, which is when CNN released the shocking footage. The government says Diddy’s lawyers are trying to prevent jurors from seeing their client “brutally physically assaulting a victim,” which would be a crucial piece of evidence in the trial.
“Without any factual basis, the leak motion seeks to suppress highly probative evidence … by claiming that it was grand jury material leaked by government agents,” prosecutors wrote. “But, as the defendant is fully aware, the video was not in the Government’s possession at the time of CNN’s publication and the Government has never, at any point, obtained the video through grand jury process.”
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 07: Cassie and Diddy “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & the Catholic Imagination”, the 2018 Costume Institute Benefit at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
In the initial filing by Diddy’s team, they stated the “leaked” video “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.” They demanded an investigation into the alleged leaks.
The mentioned 2016 video corroborates the “Me & U” singer’s claims made in her bombshell November 2023 lawsuit, where she accused the Bad Boy founder of rape, physical and mental abuse, sexual battery, sexual assault, and more.
On Sept. 16, 2024, the Love Album creator was arrested in NYC and charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. Disturbing details from the court documents accused Diddy of using his companies to fund and facilitate “Freak Offs,” where he’d allegedly drug his victims and put them in sexually abusive situations. He is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being denied bail.
