Sean “Diddy” Combs accused federal authorities on Wednesday of leaking a shocking 2016 video that shows him violently attacking his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hotel hallway.
Combs’ legal team asserted in a recent filing that agents from the Department of Homeland Security undermined the Bad Boy Records founder for seven months leading up to his explosive indictment on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, and they are urging a judge to take action.
The video, which shows Combs — wrapped in a towel — assaulting Ventura inside the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, was obtained by CNN in May, causing public outrage against the music mogul.
Defense attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos claimed that the government was the only source for the damaging leak. “The videotape was leaked to CNN for one reason alone: to severely damage Sean Combs’ reputation and hinder his chances of successfully defending himself against these allegations,” they stated.
Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs last November, but the two reached a settlement just a day later.
Combs faces accusations that he used his record label as a “criminal enterprise” for over a decade while abusing women and intimidating witnesses to conceal alleged crimes. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently in federal detention, with his lawyers fighting for his release ahead of his high-profile trial.
Combs’ legal team emphasized that while they are blaming DHS for the alleged leaks, they are not implicating the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Federal authorities are also accused of providing misleading and prejudicial statements to news outlets and illegally disseminating grand jury information, including the 2016 video, according to his lawyers.
Additionally, Combs’ attorneys expressed concern about DHS agents conducting a “particularly brutal and public search” of his homes, including handcuffing two of his sons in front of the media.
The raid on Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami, which garnered extensive media coverage in March, uncovered a wealth of evidence against the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer.
Agnifilo and Geragos are requesting an evidentiary hearing regarding the alleged misconduct, aiming to prevent government attorneys and agents from leaking more information to the press. Depending on the findings of this hearing, the lawyers are calling on the court to consider suppressing evidence, including the 2016 tape, or even dismissing the case entirely, as outlined in the legal briefing.
This legal strategy mirrors a recent move by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who accused federal agents of leaking grand jury materials in his own criminal case.
