Sean “Diddy” Combs was dealt yet another legal setback as he prepares for his upcoming federal trial, this time as Judge Arun Subramanian denied the music mogul’s latest motion for additional discovery and an evidentiary hearing.
According to Monday’s opinion and order, Combs’ team failed to prove that the American government has been leaking sensitive materials to the press, such as giving the 2016 hotel video tape with ex-girlfriend Cassie to CNN or alerting the media to the April raids on his homes in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
The rapper previously alleged that the “government, primarily through [the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)], has engaged in a seven-month campaign” against him. However, according to the filing obtained by TheWrap, “Combs has not carried his burden to show that the government leaked it to CNN. Combs argues that ‘the most likely source of the leak is the government,’ but he doesn’t point to any sound basis for this conclusion.”
Additionally, Subramanian noted that Combs doubted Cassie herself was the leak as she had no motive due to their settlement and that a third party would have sold the tape instead of simply giving it to the press. “Combs suggests that the ‘timing of the leak’ points to a government source because federal agents ‘would have known that May 17 was … a perfect time’ due to the ‘break in the Trump trial’ for Barron Trump’s high school graduation,” he wrote.
The feds deny any involvement.
With that said, Judge Subramanian also pointed out that “the court reminds the public that whether the government can prove Combs’ guilt in this case will turn on the evidence presented at trial, not in a ‘trial by newspapers.’”
Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. His multiple attempts to be released on bail have been rejected and his federal trial is set for May 5, 2025.
