Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Prosecutors Add Big Name To Roster

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. The team prosecuting Sean Diddy Combs just added some legal muscle with a new prosecutor who helped put Ghislaine Maxwell in federal prison. I look at Maureen Comey and why she's joining the prosecution team. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy.

Starting point is 00:00:25 The team prosecuting Sean Diddy Combs in the Southern District of New York just gained a new member, and it's a big name in that office. She's an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, and she's known for working on other high-profile sex trafficking cases. Maureen Comey's name might sound familiar. More on that in a bit. Comey was the lead prosecutor on Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking case. In case you're not familiar, Maxwell was Jeffrey Epstein's longtime girlfriend. She's a British socialite, and she was convicted of helping Epstein procure teen girls for sex. Maxwell is appealing her conviction, won by the team led by Maureen Comey. Maureen Comey was also on the prosecution team

Starting point is 00:01:05 for Epstein himself before he died by suicide in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. And that was not Comey's only high-profile case. She prosecuted OBGYN Robert Haddon, who had sexually assaulted patients, and former Treasury whistleblower Natalie Edwards. Comey filed notice with the court this week that she would be joining the prosecution team on Sean Combs' case. This came just days after Judge Submarinian denied Combs' third request for bail. Comey is a nine-year veteran of the U.S. Attorney's Office and typically deals with financial crimes and other high-profile cases. Now, if the name Comey sounds familiar, there's good reason for that. Remember

Starting point is 00:01:45 former FBI Director James Comey? Well, Maureen is his daughter. And Maureen, unlike her famous father, who's been all over cable news for years, has kept a low profile. During Comey's career, she's worked on cases involving alleged sex crimes against minors, including prosecuting a camp counselor, Michael Marin, in 2016. According to a DOJ press release, Marin committed a crime considered to be the nightmare of every parent. Using an easily accessible instant messaging application, Marin allegedly terrorized a middle school student in her home and her school with threats to humiliate her if she refused his demands for sexually explicit photographs and videos. But in recent years, Maureen has taken on bigger sex crimes cases. She helped secure the

Starting point is 00:02:31 20-year conviction against Ghislaine Maxwell for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse and traffic minors, as I just mentioned earlier. So it makes sense why Combs' team brought on Maureen due to her expertise in racketeering cases and charging co-conspirators. Combs' team brought on Maureen due to her expertise in racketeering cases and charging co-conspirators. Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and sex trafficking charges. I want to be clear about that. He's accused of using his business to commit crimes and cover them up, including kidnapping and arson. Basically, the feds are accusing Combs of being a gangster, and they say he forced his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, into sex trafficking by coercing her with threats to participate. So what will Maureen Comey bring to this case?

Starting point is 00:03:10 I want to bring in Paul Townsend. He's a criminal defense attorney in New York, and he actually has squared off against Maureen Comey in a federal courtroom. So, Paul, tell me your first thoughts on Maureen Comey joining the prosecution team, the government's team in the case against Sean Combs. What does this mean? What message is the government sending? Well, I can tell you, having tried a case against Miss Comey a number of years ago, she is a an incredible prosecutor. And what I mean by that is she is very honest above board. Every dealing that I had with her was exceptionally forthright. She never played any games. She never, you know, tried to hide the ball or had any kind of gotcha moments. It was always on the highest level of honesty and integrity dealing with her, but she's also exceptionally bright. You know, there were, in the case that we had, there were a number of mid-trial motions that

Starting point is 00:04:10 went back and forth to limit certain cross-examination or to limit testimony. And any time that she submitted a motion to the court, it was always meticulously researched, well-organized, well laid out. She gave me a run for my money on a number of occasions. I think that the prosecution team, by adding somebody who is now pretty clearly a veteran prosecutor, is sending a real message. And it's very clear that in the Sean Combs case, the prosecution is not only adding very talented veteran prosecutors, but also a number of women. And I think that that really is sending a message. But Maureen Comey is a formidable assistant U.S. attorney and should not be in any way overlooked. I think it is a very

Starting point is 00:05:01 powerful addition to the trial team there. The cases I cover for you each day here on Crime Fix show you just how scary the world can be. And one of the scariest things that can happen is if you ever get hurt. But I want you to know if you're ever hurt seriously or in an accident, your case could be worth millions. And that's where our sponsor Morgan & Morgan comes in. The firm has an army of more than 1,000 lawyers who will fight for what you deserve, and they have the track record to prove it. In the past few months, Morgan & Morgan has won big verdicts like $12 million in Florida, $26 million in Philly, and $6.8 million in New York. All of those were much higher than the highest insurance company offer. Seeing if you have a case can be done in eight clicks or less, and you don't even have to leave your couch to start one. Also a great thing, you only pay

Starting point is 00:05:44 Morgan & Morgan if you win. There are no upfront fees. So if you're ever hurt, you can easily start a claim at forthepeople.com slash crimefix. There are already, as you pointed out, a number of prosecutors, assistant U.S. attorneys on this prosecution team. Damian Williams basically pointed out all of them during the press conference announcing the charges in this case. So they already had a team of female prosecutors. So you're bringing in another, I guess, a big gun is what you would refer to Maureen Comey as in this office. So is it just bringing in reinforcements? Because Sean Combs' defense team has basically

Starting point is 00:06:28 signaled they're not taking anything lying down. I mean, they are filing motion after motion. They are challenging everything at every point, at every turn that they can. So is this just kind of like, okay, we're beefing up, we're bringing in reinforcements. Do you anticipate her to take a large role in this case, maybe the lead role, since she was the lead in the Ghislaine Maxwell case? So I think it's a little early to say exactly what her role is going to be. She certainly is more than capable of taking over the lead role for this. And that's going to be a decision that the team puts together with a lot of input from Damian Williams, who, you know, has really made this kind of a centerpiece

Starting point is 00:07:14 of his tenure at the U.S. Attorney's Office. And I think you're absolutely right. Mark Agnifilo, Sean Combs' lawyer, is really showing that every decision that doesn't go his way is going to get fought, is going to get litigated, is going to get relitigated. They are not accepting no for an answer. They are not lying down on any point. They're doing what every good defense lawyer does, which is zealously representing the rights of their clients. And if they feel that something is happening that is violating their client's rights, they are punching back. They're doing what good defense lawyers do.

Starting point is 00:07:50 So Maureen Comey, you know, you said she's very prepared. She's a very good prosecutor. How did you feel the jury reacted to her? I mean, is she good in front of a jury? Because federal court doesn't allow cameras, so we can't see her in action. We just have still photos and courtroom sketches of her. Does she have kind of a flair? Does she have the ability to really build a rapport with a jury?

Starting point is 00:08:16 Yes, she's very charismatic. She's very animated. She has a great courtroom presence, and I think she plays very, very well with a jury. I think she has an air about her of integrity and honesty that jurors often latch onto because so much of trial work is getting the jury not only to believe your narrative, but also to kind of like you as the attorney. If they like you, they're more likely to side with you. And she has a very good way of communicating with the jury in order to kind of

Starting point is 00:08:46 get them on her side. So she put, helped put Ghislaine Maxwell away, which, you know, is no small feat. I mean, that was a big case. She was on the Jeffrey Epstein prosecution team, but we all know that didn't go forward and we know why. So this has really kind of become her area of expertise, the sex trafficking type of case and everything like that. Do you find these cases kind of difficult to prosecute or to, I mean, are they difficult to prosecute? Because especially in this case, you have somebody, Cassie Ventura, who, you know, was in a relationship with Sean Combs. I mean, she claims it was more of like a coerced relationship and that's the allegation from the government. But do you see that this case could be a challenge to present?

Starting point is 00:09:40 There are going to be a lot of challenging aspects of this case. Typically, sex crimes cases, just as a rule, are more difficult for defense attorneys than they are for prosecutors. Just given the nature of the allegations, most jurors will kind of jump to a conclusion at the onset of the case hearing just that a person is charged with a sex crime as opposed to some other type of violent crime or weapons charge or a drugs charge. But in this particular case, prosecuting celebrities is always a little bit tricky for prosecutors because jurors kind of have already built in that kind of identification with this person. They feel like they know the person. It's harder to convict somebody who you

Starting point is 00:10:22 feel like you have some kind of personal connection or relationship to. So that's a big thing that prosecutors have to overcome in a case like this, where this is a guy who's been a public figure, you know, for decades. And he's kind of a New York staple. Everybody knows him. Everybody knows his brands. Everybody knows his work product. So that is a difficult aspect of it. But also when you're dealing with this type of subject matter, oftentimes putting it on can be a bit uncomfortable. It's usually very moving for a jury, but getting people to come and testify about this very private aspect of their life and the victimization that they feel that they've been subject to in this very personal, private part of who they are. A lot of people are reluctant to do that, especially if you know that it's going to be covered in national media. So that always presents a unique problem for prosecutors.

Starting point is 00:11:17 It seems that they have kind of put their ducks in a row in this case prior to going out and arresting Diddy. So one would think that they have that kind of sewn up, but that's always something that can kind of blow up at any time if you're a prosecutor, and you've really got to keep a handle on that. Maureen Comey obviously has a famous dad. He's very high profile. He's been very out there, maybe not so much recently, but in the past, very much out there, out in front of the cameras. Much different, though, for Maureen Comey. I mean, there are some ethical constraints on her as a federal prosecutor. She is not the appointed U.S. attorney. So she's an assistant U.S. attorney. So she's not going to

Starting point is 00:11:56 be out there giving press conferences and things like that. And so there are some rules that confine her. However, she does seem, even when we've seen her in, you know, pictures and things like that at press conferences to kind of be in the background. Is that kind of how you see her? Maybe she's just very understated typically at work. But then when she's in the courtroom, she's very much in command. Yeah, that's kind of how the hierarchy of the U.S. Attorney's Office has to work. Really, there's a press team and all of the kind of press clippings and outlets come from Damian Willis or people that are close to him. The actual line assistants on the particular cases very rarely do a whole lot of public speaking. They prefer to

Starting point is 00:12:46 go into the courtroom and let their case do the talking for them. That's traditionally been how it's gone. You know, obviously, yes, her dad is the former head of the FBI. During the time that I tried a case against her, he was the current head of the FBI. And it's very intimidating to have him come sit in during our trial while he was running the FBI and just sitting in the back of the courtroom kind of looking at us. But yeah, so it's a completely different thing. When you're the head of the FBI, you're expected to make certain public statements. When you're an assistant U.S. attorney who is either the lead or part of a trial team, even on a high profile case, you're typically not going to see them in front of cameras making statements about the evidence and the various ways and strategies

Starting point is 00:13:29 that they're going to prove their case. That's just not typically done. So if you had some words of advice for the Combs team or some things to offer them, what would you tell them about Maureen Comey? You always know what you're going to get with Maureen Comey. She is, like I said, she's very honest and very forthright. She will do the things that she says she's going to do. During our trial, a situation came up where we asked them to kind of put the trial on hold temporarily and investigate a claim that was being made by a potential witness in the case. And she actually agreed. She put the trial on hold. She met with the potential witness. She looked through the documents that they had. She did kind of a mini investigation into the claims that were being made to see how they would affect what we were saying and what their theory of the case was, which she really didn't

Starting point is 00:14:25 have to do. But she is a justice-minded prosecutor who determined that that was what the interests of justice required in that particular case. I think that really kind of sums up how she views being a prosecutor. She wants to do the right thing. She wants to make sure that justice is done. She is not a prosecutor who's solely interested in getting a conviction and asking for the max. So to the extent that the Agnifilo team is dealing with Maureen Comey, they can rely on the fact that if she says something, you can take it to the bank. She is an honest and ethical prosecutor. Well, it'll be really interesting to watch this unfold and to see whether or not she takes on a larger role in the prosecution team, whether she ends up taking the lead or maybe she's just there as a supporting member. So it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Starting point is 00:15:14 But I find it interesting. They've got a long line of prosecutors already lined up on this case, and now they've brought her in. Yeah. In prosecutions like this, especially when you're dealing with a high profile defendant, there are so, so, so many different behind the scenes things that have to be handled that it really does take a team. And they, I guarantee they have a war room. They have a giant either whiteboard or chalkboard where they have everybody's name connected to the various things that they're in charge of and making sure that there are no surprises and no disasters. And so the team will grow as they determine that more responsibilities are creeping up and they need people to really be able to devote the amount of time necessary to make sure everything is buttoned up tight.

Starting point is 00:16:01 Yeah, it'll be interesting to watch it unfold again. Thank you, Paul Townsend, for coming on. We appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Janette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Prosecutors Add Big Name To Roster

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