Lawyers working for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have written to the New York court that is overseeing the criminal case against the musician about the gagging order they want issued. That gagging order will restrict what people involved in the case can say in public and the letter sets out the Combs team’s disagreement with prosecutors on how it should be worded.
The letter says that it would have been better if Combs’ lawyers had been able to submit a joint proposal with prosecutors for how the gagging order should work but, “after extensive back and forth”, the two sides “were unable to reach agreement”.
And yet it’s increasingly urgent that a gagging order is put in place, the letter argues, because people working at the US government’s Department Of Homeland Security continue to leak information about the case to the media, which risks stopping Combs from receiving a fair trial.
The letter cites a recent article in Deadline where an unnamed “law enforcement source with knowledge of the case” commented on efforts by Combs’s team to identify the people who have accused the musician of sexual assault as part of the criminal case. “This is all about shaming the alleged victims”, the anonymous source was quoted as saying, adding “they’ll try anything”.
It also references some recent CNN reports, in which sources said that “new accusers and witnesses have met with federal agents since Combs’ arrest” and “more accusers feel emboldened to come forward with Combs behind bars”.
Combs was charged with sex trafficking and racketeering last month, and is also battling at least 28 lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault. His legal team have repeatedly criticised public comments made by their client’s accusers, and the attorneys representing those accusers, as well as complaining about the alleged leaks from investigators working on this case.
Combs has a “constitutional right to a fair trial”, his lawyers said in another letter earlier this week, and the court has an “independent obligation to avoid the creation of a ‘carnival atmosphere’ in high-profile cases”.
Which is why they want a gagging order restricting what those involved in the criminal proceedings can say. In terms of government employees, Team Combs wants that gagging order to apply to anyone who has access to documents about the case, whereas the government says it should only apply to those actively working on the investigation.
“The government wanted the order only to cover agents ‘assigned to’ the investigation, rather than any agents who acquire confidential information about the investigation and objected to the specific reference to the Department Of Homeland Security", the new letter explains.
But that restriction “would defeat the purpose of the order”, the letter claims, because it is not clear where the alleged leaks are coming from.
“Whether an agent is officially ‘assigned’ to the investigation or not should not matter”, the letter argues, adding, “the point of the order is to reach whoever may be in a position to leak and provide damaging and false information so that Mr Combs’ right to a fair trial is protected”.
Combs’s team have provided proposed wording for the gagging order to the court, with a separate proposal from the government expected to be submitted imminently.