NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail for the third time in his ongoing sex trafficking and racketeering case. The hip-hop mogul and Bad Boy Records founder has been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest in September, despite offers of up to $50 million in bail.
Prosecutors have accused Combs of trying to influence witnesses and intimidate victims from behind bars, and believe he would pose a flight risk if released. They also claimed that his reliance on his vast wealth in his bail application could amount to a “two-tiered” justice system if his proposal were allowed, which involved paying for a private security firm to monitor him and control some of his communications while on house arrest.
Combs’ lawyers had argued that he was not a flight risk and that he would not try to influence witnesses or intimidate victims while out on bail. However, the judge overseeing his case rejected his third bail application, citing the risk to victims and witnesses if he were released.
The judge also ordered federal prosecutors to delete images of Combs’ handwritten notes taken during a search of his jail cell, which his lawyers said were protected by attorney-client privilege and were improperly seized. Excerpts from those notes, which referenced getting “dirt” on at least two potential witnesses, will not be used at the bond hearing.
Prosecutors had claimed that Combs has a long history of obstruction, encouraging witnesses and subordinates to cover for him, and of abusing both sexual partners and personal staff, according to court documents. They also alleged that he has a history of violence, threatening to kill his staff members, throwing objects at them, and being struck, punched, and shoved by him, and seeing him do the same to others.
Combs is scheduled to stand trial on May 5, 2024. The U.S. attorney overseeing his case could be replaced by President-elect Trump’s nominee, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton, before then.