• A judge says he will silence attorneys in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking case.
• The judge also set a trial date for May 5, although additional charges could be pending.
• The feds said they were still having trouble cracking the encryption on some of Diddy’s electronic devices.

The judge in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking case said he plans to silence his attorneys after a heated courtroom argument over remarks by a lawyer in the courtroom. defense that the accusation was “racist”.

At a hearing Thursday in Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian told lawyers he would consider a gag order in response to complaints from Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, that government agents had disclosed the details of their investigation to the press.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson initially objected to the imposition of a gag order, saying prosecutors had not released any information. She noted that federal rules already exist prohibiting either side from making statements that could prejudice a future jury.

Johnson later accused Agnifilo of breaking those rules himself in statements he made to TMZ.

“Mr. Agnifilo recently gave an interview to TMZ in which he baselessly accused the government of pursuing racist prosecutions,” Johnson said.

In the interview, Agnifilo accused prosecutors of plotting “the takedown of a successful black man” with his sex trafficking case against Combs.

Combs, sitting at a table with his lawyers and wearing a khaki-colored shirt, opened his eyes wide and nodded as Johnson read quotes from the interview.

“We believe that statements like this seriously jeopardize the fairness of the trial in this case and the integrity of these proceedings,” Mr. Johnson said.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who oversees the prosecution, is a black man.

Subramanian asked Agnifilo and prosecutors to agree on the language of a proposed gag order that would be “reciprocal” – applying to both defense attorneys and the government. He said the order could be binding on government agents, beyond just the lawyers involved in the case.

The judge also said he would wait until both sides submit briefs before deciding whether to hold a hearing to determine whether the government illegally leaked grand jury materials to reporters.

Johnson, the prosecutor, denied the allegations and said the maneuver was intended to prevent jurors from seeing a key piece of evidence: the now-infamous tape of Combs assaulting his ex-partner Cassandra Ventura and dragging her down the hallway of a hotel.

“The government believes that this motion is without merit and is simply a means of trying to exclude overwhelming evidence,” Mr Johnson said.

Diddy’s case is set to go to trial on May 5, but there could be more charges

Subramanian, who took over the case a week ago, set the trial date for May 5. The trial is expected to last about a month.

Prosecutors charged Combs with sex trafficking and racketeering, alleging he used the resources of his business empire to orchestrate sexual encounters between Ventura and sex workers. The “panic” events often involved drugs and threats of violence, prosecutors say.

At Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors said they may file another indictment against Combs with additional charges.

“Our investigation is ongoing and it is possible that there will be a superseding indictment that could affect the length of the trial,” Johnson said.

Before his trial, Combs was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a notorious federal prison in Brooklyn. He is appealing a decision by two other judges to reject a $50 million bond offered by his lawyers, which would have allowed him to stay in one of his homes while he prepares for trial with his lawyers. A district judge previously assigned to his case said there was a risk he could send “coded messages” to his associates and tamper with witnesses.

Combs showed up to Thursday’s hearing with a beefed-up legal team, which includes Alexandra Shapiro, who is also handling Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal. Combs sat next to another attorney, Anthony Ricco, who passed notes to the hip-hop mogul throughout the hearing. Newly hired attorney Anna Estevao introduced herself to the judge at the start of the hearing saying she was “proud to represent Mr. Combs.”

Also in the courtroom was Gloria Allred, seated among reporters and other members of the public. She told BI she represents several accusers who have not yet filed charges. She also represents Thalia Graves, who alleges in a lawsuit filed a week after Combs’ arrest that in 2001 the music mogul drugged her, tied her hands and recorded himself raping her .

“I think the most important words said today, from their perspective, are ‘The defendant remains in custody,'” Allred said of the judge’s passing reference to no request for release on bail.

When asked when more lawsuits would be filed by his Los Angeles law firm, Allred said, “We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the future.”

Much of Thursday’s lively 40-minute hearing focused on the massive amount of electronic evidence seized by the government in the case, and when those troves would be turned over to the defense.

The government still cannot access the highly encrypted laptop seized from Manhattan’s Combs Hotel during his Sept. 16 arrest, lead prosecutor Emily Anne Johnson told the judge.

Federal agents also seized 96 electronic devices from Combs on March 25, during searches of his homes in Miami and Los Angeles, and seized other devices from him at a Florida airport.

Johnson said these also haven’t been completely cracked due to damage issues or the complexity of the technology. Other devices, including several tablets, are problematic because they are “older,” she said. Still others, including eight devices seized in Miami, hold massive amounts of data totaling 90 terabytes, she said.

“We worked diligently to extract the data from the devices,” so it could be shared, if necessary, with the defense, Johnson told the judge.

Johnson said Agnifilo was in the process of serving documents from a March 2024 subpoena to one of Combs’ companies, called Combs Global.

“This material is important to our case,” Johnson said.

After the judge left the bench, Combs, who was shackled at the ankles but not handcuffed, was allowed to stand and face the audience. His seven children, his mother and other family members and friends occupied two rows of 9 seats.

He spent several minutes smiling broadly at his children, alternately waving to them, blowing two-handed kisses, bringing his hands to his chest and bowing.

Combs received waves in return from her 17-year-old twin daughters, sitting side by side in identical braids, jeans and hoodies.