Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday leaked explosive footage from 2016 showing the disgraced hip-hop mogul brutally beating his then-girlfriend Kathy Ventura in a hotel hallway. accused federal authorities.
In a new filing, Combs' court alleges that Homeland Security officials undermined the Bad Boy Records founder in the seven months leading up to his bombshell indictment on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. They are calling on judges to take action.
The uproar against the music star began in May when footage obtained by CNN showed Combs attacking Ventura with a towel around his waist inside the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.
Defense attorneys Mark Agnifilo and Tennie Geragos argued that the government was the only possible source of the damning disclosures.
“The videotape was leaked to CNN for one reason only: to fatally damage Sean Combs' reputation and chances of successfully defending himself against these allegations,” they wrote.
Ventura sued Combs last November, and the two sides settled the case the next day.
Combs faces accusations that he used his record label as a “criminal enterprise” for more than a decade, abusing women and bullying witnesses to cover up his alleged crimes.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Mr. Combs is currently in federal custody, but his lawyers are also fighting to get him released from prison ahead of a high-profile trial.
Mr. Combs' legal team cautioned that he was blaming DHS for the alleged breach and not the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.
Federal authorities also accused him of providing false and prejudicial statements to news outlets and illegally disseminating grand jury information, including a 2016 videotape, his lawyers argued.
Lawyers for Mr. Combs also complained in a new filing that DHS agents conducted a “particularly brutal and public search of Mr. Combs' home,” including handcuffing his two sons in front of reporters. .
Raids on Combs' residences in Los Angeles and Miami received widespread media attention in March, and large amounts of evidence of Combs against the “I'll Be Missing You” singer were found.
Mr. Agnifilo and Mr. Geragos are asking a federal court to set an evidentiary hearing on the alleged wrongdoing and to prevent government lawyers and agents from divulging any further information to the press.
Lawyers asked the court to suppress evidence, including the 2016 tapes, or possibly dismiss the case, depending on the outcome of the evidentiary hearing, according to a legal briefing.
The approach by Combs' lawyers on Wednesday followed a similar action by New York Mayor Eric Adams, who accused federal authorities of also leaking grand jury materials from his criminal case.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788 Please send.
