Diddy loses bid for gag order against alleged government leaks

Sean “Diddy” Combs lawyers lost a bid to impose a gag order on government agencies involved in his federal investigation racket and sex trafficking criminal casewhich Combs’ team has accused of leaking information to the press.

In a Friday order reviewed by USA TODAY, Judge Arun Subramanian declined to adopt the order proposed by the prosecution and defense. Instead, he wrote, both sides are expected to comply with existing laws that prohibit lawyers, investigators and government agents from disclosing grand jury proceedings and releasing non-public information that could interfere with a fair trial.

“To be clear, this order is not based on a finding that there has been any wrongdoing to date, as the Court has made no finding at this time regarding the defendant’s allegations that information related to the case was leaked,” he wrote Subramanian. . “The purpose of this order is to help ensure that from now on nothing happens that interferes with a fair trial.”

When contacted by USA TODAY, an attorney for Combs declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Combs’ lawyers asked the judge to issue an order barring federal employees from disclosing to the news media evidence they say “undermines Mr. Combs’ right to a fair trial.” The defense and U.S. attorneys discussed the issue but were unable to agree on language for a joint order, instead presenting their own individual proposals.

The federal judge promises to “take appropriate action” against the leaks

In a letter sent Friday, Combs’ team drew the judge’s attention a New York Post article which published that day and purported to quote “a federal law enforcement source who is involved in the investigation” who issued comments regarding Combs’ alleged antics.

“Those remarks, if made by an agent involved in the investigation or prosecution of this case, are patently improper,” Subramanian wrote. “This order requires the Government to notify the agencies involved in this case or related investigation of their obligations under “Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) and U.S. District Court for Civil Rules Local 23.1 of Southern and Eastern New York’ and deliver this order to them’.

The judge added: “The court will take appropriate action for any breach of the rules.”

Combs’ team’s request for an evidentiary hearing to look into alleged government misconduct is still pending.

As stated in a letter filed in court earlier this month, Combs’ team believes that since March, the government has been “strategically leaking confidential grand jury material and information, including the 2016 Intercontinental videotape, to prejudice the public and potential jurors against mr. . Combs”.

This raised “public hostility against Mr. Combs ahead of the trial,” they wrote. In May, CNN launched 2016 hotel surveillance footage showing Combs kicking, punching and dragging his ex-girlfriend cassia near the elevators of a hotel. Combs, in a video, apologized for his “inexcusable” behavior.; his lawyers described the abuse as the result of a toxic relationship rather than evidence of sex trafficking.

The hip-hop superstar he was arrested at a Manhattan hotel on September 16 and sued on sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges the next day. Investigators say the 54-year-old man elaborate scheme to use his finances and status in the entertainment industry to “fulfill his sexual desires” in a “recurring and widely known” pattern of abuse.

He was incarcerated in Special Housing Unit at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Centerr since then and has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to all federal criminal charges and denying any wrongdoing alleged in setting up civil processes against him in the last year.

All of Combs’ attempts so far to get him out of jail until his May 5 trial have been denied. They are seeking an appellate court order overturning a The decision of September 18 to reject your request to be released from prison on conditions that include a $50 million bond.