After CNN released the video of Sean “Diddy” Combs ruthlessly beating ex-girlfriend and singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura up and down the hallway, everyone wanted to know who leaked the video to the media. A new court filing reveals who Combs thinks was behind it.
Attorneys for the Bad Boy Entertainment founder filed a motion Wednesday requesting a hearing to present evidence “examining government misconduct” in connection to the video leak. The viral clip is of hotel surveillance footage showing Combs angrily chasing down Ventura wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. In the video, she’s being punched and kicked repeatedly by Combs before being dragged down the hallway along with her belongings.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a letter to the court that on May 17, the day of the leak, he received a message from a CNN correspondent saying they currently had in their possession surveillance footage from the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles from 2016. Agnifilo wrote that he then contacted the prosecutors assigned to the case, per court documents.
“My concern is that someone (not any of you and not the lead case agents) provided this footage to CNN. I bring this to your attention solely because I imagine you don’t want this to happen any more than I do…” the attorney wrote, per court documents.
In response, prosecutors didn’t say much besides confirming they viewed the video, according to the filing. Though, hours later, the world saw the footage.
Agnifilo argued that the raid led by Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of Combs’ mansions in California and Florida weeks prior had something to do with the video leak. He wrote that media video footage indicated that reporters were on the scenes of the raids before the HSI even got there.
“Upon information and belief and as reported in media accounts, federal agents made comments to the media the day of the search warrant and over the following days. These statements have continued to the present day,” the filing read.
The filing included several exhibits including clippings of articles from The New York Post, Rolling Stone and local newspapers where chopper footage of the raid was captured. The motion also had a list of relief requests: the disclosure of any other documents related to the leak, a gag order prohibiting government personnel from disclosing any evidence or investigative material to the media and the suppression of any evidence leaked by the government in violation of federal criminal procedure.
In conclusion, if this relief is granted, the video of Cassie being beaten may not reach the eyes of a federal jury if the Feds were indeed behind the leak.
On Monday, Sept. 16, the 54-year-old rap mogul was arrested in Manhattan by federal authorities. His indictment was unsealed the following morning, revealing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and engaging in interstate transportation for prostitution. Combs’ arrest was roughly six months after the federal raids.
He’s pleaded not guilty to the charges and was denied bail.