Federal prosecutors allege Sean “Diddy” Combs has been using his children and his associates to “corruptly influence” witnesses in his sex trafficking case.
For that reason, prosecutors urged the court in a 30-page filing late Friday, Nov. 15, to reject Diddy’s third bail request, saying the mogul remains a threat to society.
According to the filing, which was posted online by journalist Meghann Cuniff, prosecutors alleged the music mogul used his children to share a message on social media in hopes of tainting the jury pool.
“The defendant has shown repeatedly — even while in custody — that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case. The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to abide by rules or conditions,” prosecutors wrote in their rebuttal to Diddy’s $50 million bail request.
Related: Diddy Witness Reveals New Details After Judge Rejects Mogul’s Gag Order Request
Diddy was arrested on Sept. 16 in New York City and charged with three counts — racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The mogul’s two previous bail requests were denied by separate federal judges. However, Diddy’s lawyers are scheduled to argue for bail a third time at a Nov. 22 hearing in New York City.
Combs remains jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
But prosecutors alleged the Bad Boy Records founder started breaking jail rules shortly after he entered the facility.
According to Friday’s court filing, prosecutors said Diddy has been using phone accounts belonging to “at least eight other inmates” to contact potential witnesses.
After reviewing jail phone call records, the prosecution said Diddy even instructed his associates to “add other individuals via three-way call,” which is a violation of Bureau of Prisons rules.
“The defendant knows this is against BOP regulations: at the outset of each telephone call, the inmate is prompted to enter his PAC number, after which an automated recording announces: ‘Sharing of PAC numbers is against BOP policy and is subject to disciplinary action,’” the filing read.
Prosecutors said that’s just the start.
They claimed a viral video that the mogul’s children shared on Instagram celebrating his 55th birthday on Nov. 4, was actually part of a campaign to influence potential witnesses.
In the video, Diddy’s kids — Justin, Christian, twins D’Lila and Jessie, toddler Love, and his adopted son Quincy — are shown with a cake as they sing “Happy Birthday” to the mogul over a cell phone.
Prosecutors said the video was made “with the intention of influencing the potential jury in this criminal proceeding.”
According to Friday’s filing, Diddy told his children to post the video to their social media accounts and he later “monitored the analytics — i.e., audience engagement — and explicitly discussed with his family how to ensure that the video had his desired effect on potential jury members in this case.”
The filing also accused the embattled mogul of pressuring former Diddy-Dirty Money singer Kalenna Harper to publicly discredit their 2000s bandmate Dawn Richard, who filed a civil lawsuit against Diddy on Sept. 10, alleging sexual battery, false imprisonment, and other crimes.
Diddy has denied all of the abuse allegations made against him in dozens of lawsuits.
Harper was described in Friday’s court filing as “Witness-2.” Prosecutors said Diddy began pressuring Witness-2 the day after Richard’s lawsuit was filed.
“The defendant reached out to Witness-2 on Sept. 11, and sent her a copy of the lawsuit against the defendant in which Witness-2’s name was mentioned several times,” the filing said.
Prosecutors said Combs and Harper exchanged phone calls and text messages “at least 128 times” between Sept. 11 and Sept. 15.
“Throughout these phone contacts, the defendant repeatedly asked Witness-2 when she planned to post her statement,” the filing said.
Harper posted a lengthy statement to Instagram on Sept. 13, saying the allegations made in her former bandmate’s lawsuit “do not align” with Harper’s truth, as previously reported.
After Diddy was taken into custody, prosecutors said Bureau of Prison investigators found “notes” in his cell during a nationwide jail raid, indicating “the defendant paid Witness-2 after she posted her statement.”
Harper’s statement is in the social media post below:
