Diddy appeared in Manhattan federal court on October 10th, and the judge offered him a trial date of May 5, 2025, which Diddy’s attorneys accepted.
Federal prosecutors revealed their investigation is ongoing and they are looking at potentially adding more criminal charges to the original indictment. The Bad Boy Records mogul was arrested at a Manhattan hotel on September 16 after a months-long investigation and charged with three felonies: sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transporting individuals for prostitution. Diddy has been denied bail multiple times, but on October 9th, his team accused the federal government of leaking the 2016 tape of Cassie Ventura to CNN.
In an apparent pre-emptive move, Combs’ legal team filed a motion Wednesday for an evidentiary hearing that accuses the government of orchestrating a smear campaign by colluding with the media to undermine a fair trial. According to the memorandum, reviewed by Variety, counsel for Combs claims that there have been numerous attempts in the “government’s scheme” to undermine his right to a fair trial. In the detailed document, they ask that appropriate remedies — including the potential disqualification of witnesses or dismissal of all charges in his indictment — be considered.
In the memorandum, they point to four different tactics of government misconduct, with the most egregious being the CNN leak of Combs allegedly assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016. His lawyers state that neither Ventura or a third party were likely sources of the leak, as Ventura would have described it more in detail in her sexual assault lawsuit and a third party would have tried to sell it. Thus, they point to the government as the most viable culprit given the timing of the tape’s release.