Prosecutors criticize Team Diddy’s ‘baseless’ claim about Cassie video leak

US attorneys responded in court to requests from Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ lawyers that government agents leaked informationinclusive footage with Combs physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Venturato news outlets.

In a filing late Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, obtained Thursday by USA TODAY, prosecutors said Combs’ defense attorneys did not provide adequate evidence that any information was leaked to the federal grand jury investigating him, adding that Combs and his team know the video has arrived. from somewhere else.

The video in question was hotel surveillance footage from 2016 CNN launched in May, showing Combs kicking, punching and dragging Cassie near a hotel elevator.

“Defendant baselessly accuses ‘(Department of Homeland Security)’ agents — who have no authority to issue a grand jury indictment — that they secretly obtained the Intercontinental video without prosecutors’ knowledge,” the filing states.

Additionally, the government claims it was “unable to obtain any video of the attack,” and investigators had no footage of the hotel attack until CNN published the clip.

Prosecutors also called his request for the accusers’ names a “thinly veiled” effort to divert the government’s case and help him publicly defend himself against the more than two dozen men and women who are pursuing civil lawsuits over his alleged sexual misconduct.

“This improper motion should be dismissed in its entirety, particularly here where there are serious and ongoing concerns about victim and witness safety, tampering and intimidation,” prosecutors wrote.

However, Combs’ effort to expose his accusers got a boost on wednesdaywhen U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil in Manhattan ruled that a woman who sued Combs for alleged rape in 2004 could not remain anonymous. Vyskocil cited Combs’ interest in investigating the woman’s credibility and the public interest in open court proceedings.

Diddy’s lawyers say government agents are impeding his right to a fair trial

Combs’ team believes that since March, the government has been “strategically leaking confidential grand jury materials and information, including the 2016 Intercontinental videotape, to prejudice the public and potential jurors against Mr. Combs.”

In Wednesday’s filing, prosecutors said the defense argued “without basis” that government agents were the source of the material reported by the news outlets. The attorneys wrote, “It strains credulity to suggest that law enforcement agents independently obtained the Intercontinental video with a grand jury subpoena they did not have the authority to issue.”

In Oct. 9 filings, the defense asked the judge for relief “in connection with what the defense believes were a series of illegal leaks of government information that resulted in damaging, highly prejudicial publicity that can only taint the jury and to deprive mr. . His combs the right to a fair trial.”

His lawyers, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, said there should be a hearing to investigate alleged government misconduct and for government agencies involved in the case to release communications and records related to the alleged “leaks” to media outlets.

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

They also asked the judge to issue an order barring federal employees from disclosing evidence to the media, as well as “suppressing any evidence leaked by government employees.”

However, on October 25, Justice Arun Subramanian denied imposing a gag order. 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.

What are the claims against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs?

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York say that “in or around November 2023” they began working with the International Security Investigations Human Trafficking Team and “began investigating Combs and others for violations of federal criminal law.”

That same month, Cassie launched allegations of rape, abuse and sex trafficking in a civil suit against the music mogul. Combs and Cassie settled his civil suit a day later. Combs’ attorneys disclosed in their filing that she “received a substantial eight-figure settlement.”

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 elaborately elaborated 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.

Credit: Jonathan Stempel/Reuters