Sean "Diddy" Combs is fighting back against allegations he sex-trafficked and committed racketeering on the grounds that the federal case against him is racially charged.
For the bail request, filed in court Monday and obtained by Fox News, his lawyers said Combs has every right to comment on the prosecution.
"He has a right to a fair trial and a constitutional right to speak out on his own behalf," the defense wrote in a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian.
"The government's arguments that asking his children to post birthday wishes on Instagram and that he is not entitled to publicly express his opinion that this prosecution is racially motivated are, quite simply, an unconstitutional effort to silence him," Diddy's legal team added.
Combs is currently in pretrial detention, with his trial set for May 5, 2025.
Prosecutors said that Combs ran his campaign from behind bars using other inmates' phones, which he picked up on smuggled communication methods that are banned in prison.
In support, they provided instances of past conduct in which Combs purportedly threatened employees and mistreated sexual partners, asserting a long history of violence.
Prosecutors added that former employees had described instances when the defendant threatened to kill them and smacked them in the face.
They said, "This significant history of violence must be taken into account when viewing the defendant's obstructive activity."
The case has been in the headlines for those political undercurrents, as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams will step down on December 13 when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
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Her replacement, a former first-term Biden-Harris appointee, is Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The claws came out — hard — on Combs when his ex Cassie Ventura, just 29 years old, made serious allegations against him in an investigation that began in full December of 2023.
The two reached a swift settlement in her lawsuit, but he has since faced further allegations, including more than 100 who are said to be looking to sue Combs for a range of claims.
The strategy has included allusions to what they described as racial bias in how Combs was treated during past law enforcement contacts.
Combs' ex-Misa Hylton once slammed the heavy-handed Homeland Security agents who stormed through the locked gates at Combs' places.
With both sides gearing up for the courtroom showdown — as federal prosecutors are opposing Combs' release as a potential danger to witnesses — the ongoing lawsuit has gotten uglier. Now, the court is reviewing Combs' third try for bail.
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