Civil suits against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are mounting. This could be bad for his criminal case, experts say

CNN Showbiz News Oct - 16 - 2024 , 17:28

Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs want prosecutors to disclose the names of his accusers, telling the judge overseeing his sex trafficking case that the government is “unfairly” forcing the music producer “to play a guessing game” as the defense prepares for trial.

Combs’ latest request comes amid a surge of new civil accusers who have come forward in lawsuits after he was arrested and indicted last month on three criminal charges.

In a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian on Tuesday, Combs’ attorneys wrote “the government has claimed that there are ‘multiple’ victims yet has not identified any.” They wrote that the task of identifying the persons at the center of the government’s case is complicated by a “slew of baseless allegations” from “desperate” and “opportunistic” plaintiffs.

The US Attorney’s office declined to comment.

Combs, who is being held in federal custody in Brooklyn as he awaits trial, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Federal prosecutors have accused Combs of orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” through his business empire that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping and decades of physical abuse against women, among other allegations. They allege that he did not act alone. His trial is set to begin in May 2025.

In the month since Combs was arrested, eight additional civil lawsuits have been filed against him with allegations of sexual assault. One legal expert told CNN that as prosecutors continue their investigation, the deluge of lawsuits can potentially serve as a roadmap of sorts for the government.

“If civil lawsuits with new victims are filed, that is definitely one avenue that they could find out about them — if the government didn’t already know about those victims,” attorney Jennie Wang VonCannon, a former federal prosecutor who has no affiliation with Combs or any of his accusers, said.

“The sheer number of (accusers) increases the chances – by a lot – of there being conduct that the government didn’t know about or hasn’t charged yet, and that could tip the scale if they’re thinking about superseding to add additional charges or to add other defendants who were part of the alleged conspiracy,” Wang VonCannon, who has previously tried human trafficking and RICO cases for the US Attorney’s office and is currently a partner at the law firm Crowell & Moring, added.

Possibility of more charges

Since Combs’ arrest, prosecutors have indicated that their investigation was ongoing, with US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams encouraging victims to “come forward and to do it quickly” on the day the indictment against the musician was unsealed.

Then earlier this month at a status hearing, Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson said that a superseding indictment could affect the length of trial – meaning additional charges or defendants could be added.

A source familiar with parts of the federal investigation said that new accusers and witnesses have met with federal agents since Combs’ arrest.

The Department of Homeland Security and SDNY declined to comment on the current status of the investigation or whether new charges would in fact be filed.

Six of the new lawsuits came this week via Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who said in a press conference earlier this month that he was representing at least 120 new Combs accusers.

Since November 2023, at least 18 civil lawsuits have been filed against Combs. The first lawsuit, filed by his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, was settled one day after it was filed. The others remain active.

Combs had previously denied all wrongdoing alleged in the various lawsuits. After CNN published a 2016 hotel surveillance footage that shows Combs dragging and kicking his then-girlfriend Ventura, he apologized in a video shared on social media.

Combs’ defense is trying to block that video from being brought into evidence in his trial. In a filing last week, his attorney accused the government of leaking evidence, including the surveillance video, to the media, but provided no evidence of those claims.

The six new accusers who came forward this week each made separate claims of sexual assault that allegedly took place between 1995 and 2021.

The anonymous accusers, all represented by Buzbee and his co-counsel San Diego-based attorney Andrew Van Arsdale, are both female and male. One accuser claims he was 16 at the time he was allegedly assaulted at one of Combs’ infamous White Parties in the Hamptons in 1998.

Combs’ attorneys did not respond to specific allegations in the latest lawsuits, but denied the accusations, telling CNN that Combs maintains his innocence.

“Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — adult or minor, man or woman,” his attorneys said in a statement this week.

Another accuser, who filed her lawsuit post-indictment, claims that her alleged sexual assault was filmed without her consent. And another alleged victim, who also filed after Combs’ arrest, said in her suit that she was drugged, sexually assaulted and impregnated with claims as recent as 2024.

Wang VonCannon said it is possible Combs was indicted before the investigation was complete because prosecutors may believe he is dangerous and had been tampering with witnesses, as they stated when he was denied bail. Combs’ team pushed back on the government’s assertion that he had obstructed witnesses in their appeal for Combs’ detention.

“The government’s comments during Combs’ bail hearing about his danger to the community seem to be part and parcel about why they did this indictment so quickly,” Wang VonCannon said.

“They wanted to get him off the streets because they considered him a danger to the community. You could see a world in which they had what they needed for what was charged in the indictment. But given the scope of the indictment, even as it stands, it appears to be part of a larger pattern of activity that would implicate possibly other crimes.”

More accusers feel emboldened to come forward with Combs behind bars, according to two sources familiar with the investigation who spoke with CNN.

Months before Combs’ arrest, sources told CNN that the majority of the plaintiffs who had filed civil suits against Combs at that point had been interviewed by federal investigators, as they were prepping witnesses to testify in front of the grand jury.

An accuser of Combs, who has already met with federal investigators, also told CNN that she has direct knowledge of more alleged victims that have also met with federal agents since Combs’ arrest. This accuser said that while more individuals are coming forward, there is still a fear of retaliation, given Combs’ longtime stature as one of the most powerful rappers and successful music moguls of all time.

“He still has some hold,” this accuser told CNN.