Prosecutors say Sean “Diddy” Combs' lawyers want to “hijack” a criminal case to head off civil claims

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors say Sean “Diddy” Combs' lawyers are trying to “wrest” the music mogul's criminal case away from them by asking a judge to allow early disclosure of evidence, including the identities of his accusers force.

Prosecutors asked a judge in papers filed late Wednesday to reject the requests, saying efforts to reveal the identities of potential witnesses in particular were “manifestly inappropriate.”

They said it was inappropriate for defense attorneys to demand disclosure of victims' identities and details of other evidence that would prejudice the government's case.

Defense lawyers have also sought a gag order to prevent prosecutors' lawyers from speaking publicly, claiming government information to the media jeopardized the rapper's chance at a fair trial.

Prosecutors said the motions were “a thinly veiled attempt to limit the government's evidence at this early stage of the case and to manipulate the criminal process to allow the defendant to respond to civil suits.” That request should be firmly rejected, especially given the danger , which it represents for the safety of witnesses.”

Prosecutors added: “As the defendant is well aware, there is no legal basis for his attempt to use this criminal proceeding as a defense against civil lawsuits.”

Combs, 54, has been held in a federal prison in Brooklyn since his arrest on September 16 and is awaiting the start of his trial on May 5.

One of the reasons a judge used to reject bail proposed by his lawyers was that he posed a risk of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with the support of employees and associates.

Prosecutors alleged that Combs engaged in a racketeering conspiracy since at least 2008, using his power and prestige in the entertainment industry to force women to engage in extensive sexual acts with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs.”

They said he used videos of the attacks as an excuse to threaten victims, and they said he also physically assaulted women and others by punching, punching, dragging and kicking them.

Prosecutors said defense allegations that the government leaked a video of Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway to CNN on March 5, 2016 were untrue.

They said defense attorneys had made “a brazen attempt to suppress damning evidence against him – a video of him violently beating a victim.”

In May, Combs released a video statement in which he said he took “full responsibility” for his actions in the video against Cassie, an R&B singer whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. She sued him last November alleging years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. The lawsuit was settled the next day.

“I was disgusted when I did it at the time. I’m disgusted now,” Combs said in the video.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura did.

Combs also faces civil lawsuits from several men and women who allege they were sexually abused by Combs after using drugs over the past quarter century.

Combs' lawyers have asked that accusers and their lawyers be banned from making public statements, saying they have already made “numerous inflammatory extrajudicial statements aimed at assassinating Mr. Combs' character in the press.”

More than a dozen lawsuits filed in federal court in Manhattan have been assigned to different judges, leading to different initial decisions about whether the allegations were sufficiently made.

In one case, a judge ruled Wednesday that a Tennessee woman who claims Combs raped her in 2004 when she was 19 must proceed without anonymity or not at all. The judge wrote that defendants have a right to investigate those who sue them and that the public has a right to know who is using the courts.

An attorney for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

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