A prosecutors in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ case read aloud an interview where his lawyer accused them of plotting “the takedown of a successful Black man.”
The judge overseeing Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal sex-trafficking case said he plans to impose a gag order on its lawyers after a heated courtroom argument over a defense attorney’s remarks that the prosecution is “racist.”
At a Thursday hearing in Manhattan federal court, US District Judge Arun Subramanian told the attorneys he would consider a gag in response to Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo’s complaints that government agents had leaked details of their investigation to the press.
Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson initially argued against imposing a gag order, saying that prosecutors had not leaked any information. She noted that federal rules already exist, barring both sides from making statements that could prejudice a future jury.
Johnson then accused Agnifilo of running afoul of those rules himself in statements he made to TMZ.
“Mr. Agnifilo recently sat down with an interview with TMZ where he baselessly accused the government of running a racist prosecution”, Johnson said.
In the interview, Agnifilo accused prosecutors of plotting “the takedown of a successful Black man” with its sex-trafficking case against Combs.
Combs, sitting at a table with his lawyers and wearing a khaki-colored shirt, opened his eyes widely and nodded along as Johnson read quotes from the interview.
“We think statements of this sort seriously risk a fair trial in this case and the integrity of this proceeding”, Johnson said.
Damian Williams, the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York, who oversees the prosecution office, is a Black man.
Subramanian asked Agnifilo and prosecutors to agree on language for a proposed gag order that would be “reciprocal” — applying to both defense lawyers and the government. He said the order could be binding on government agents beyond just the lawyers involved in the case.
The judge also said he’ll wait until both sides submit briefs before deciding to hold an evidentiary hearing into whether the government illegally leaked grand jury material to journalists.
Johnson, the prosecutor, denied the allegations and said the maneuver was meant to try to block jurors from seeing a key piece of evidence: The now-famous tape of Combs assaulting his ex-partner Cassandra Ventura and dragging her through a hotel hallway.
