Federal judge sets May 5 as trial date for Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy case

A Manhattan federal judge Thursday set a spring trial date for the racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking case against Sean "Diddy" Combs, as the music mogul's legal team sought to suppress a "damning" video of him allegedly beating a former girlfriend.

Manhattan federal prosecutors charged the Bad Boy Records founder last month with racketeering, sex trafficking and promoting travel for the purpose of prostitution in a sprawling decades-long conspiracy to sexually abuse and intimidate women during dayslong orgies — dubbed "freak offs" — in which male sex workers had sex with women Combs was dating. The rap music mogul used his global business empire to set up the elaborate illegal sex parties and to intimidate his alleged victims into participating, prosecutors claim. He reinforced the silence from the women through threats to their music careers and sometimes violence at gunpoint, according to the indictment.

Combs pleaded not guilty and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said that these were consensual activities that were part of a complex and mutually toxic relationship with an ex-girlfriend.

"That was their thing. That is how these two adults chose to be intimate," the lawyer said at a previous hearing.

On Thursday, Combs entered the courtroom wearing tan prison garb and leg shackles, looking hollow-eyed. His mother and children traveled from Florida to attend the hearing. The multifaceted businessman smiled at his family and waved as he entered. He blew kisses to them at the end of the court session.

Judge Arun Subramanian set a May 5 trial date and outlined the schedule for motions and pretrial hearings.

Manhattan federal prosecutor Emily Johnson agreed to the timeline, but cautioned that the government continues to probe Combs and his global empire for criminal conduct.

"Our case is very much ongoing and there could be a superseding indictment that could affect the trial date," she said.

After the hearing, Agnifilo said that his client is "doing fine. He's focused on his defense."

On Wednesday in court papers, Combs' legal team also took a page out of Mayor Eric Adams' legal strategy playbook, accusing the federal government of leaking information to the press to turn the public and the court against him.

Agnifilo in a motion filed Wednesday night argued that a federal raid on Combs' homes in March and a video of the rap mogul beating his former girlfriend should be suppressed during the trial because it was given to broadcast media outlets to sway the grand jury to indict his client and turn popular sentiment against him.

Agnifilo said that "government employees have repeatedly leaked grand jury information and materials to the press to raise public hostility against Mr. Combs in advance of trial."

On March 25, 150 federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s investigations unit, in full tactical gear, raided Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach and his private plane, the lawyer said.

Agnifilo claims that CNN, a local Fox station and other outlets were informed by the agency of the raid ahead of time and broadcast it live. He said that DHS even timed it to a break in the ongoing criminal trial against former President Donald Trump to capitalize on the vacuum in the news cycle.

"We do not contend that the leaks were orchestrated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office," Agnifilo wrote in his motion for an evidentiary hearing. "Rather, we contend that the false media statements and the grand jury leaks complained of below were planned and executed by DHS."

Prosecutors countered that neither DHS nor the U.S. Attorney's Office had the video of the hallway beating on the date that CNN aired it and believed the defense lawyers have an ulterior motive for filing the motion.

"The government believes that this motion is baseless and it is just a means to exclude a damning piece of evidence," Johnson said during the hearing.

The prosecutor raised the concern of the defense lawyer's interview on TMZ accusing them of racial bias, which she called "baseless."

The judge ordered Agnifilo to draft a gag order for both sides of the case that he said he would sign.

Combs has been held behind bars in a Brooklyn federal jail since his arrest after a federal judge deemed him a danger to the community. He's appealing his detention to a higher court.

He is due back in court on Dec. 18.