Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Sexual Assault Accusations to Be Heard by Grand Jury: Report

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. There's no doubt in my mind that Sean Combs knows that this is coming. Things could be heating up for Sean Diddy Combs as CNN reports the feds are moving toward charging the rap mogul. We are now hearing that federal investigators are preparing to possibly bring witnesses in front of a federal grand jury in New York City. The report is the first we're hearing about movement in the case since the raids by federal agents back in March. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Things have been relatively quiet, at least publicly, as far as the feds are concerned with Sean Combs since the raids on his homes in California and Florida back on March 25th.

Starting point is 00:00:50 The silence, which isn't unusual when it comes to the federal government, had a lot of people wondering, did they actually find anything during these raids? Is the investigation essentially dead? Now, CNN says the feds are preparing to call witnesses to testify in front of a grand jury. But correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister qualified it just a little bit. What we have heard is that possible witnesses have been notified that they could be called to testify. Now sources do caution that investigators are still in the process of gathering information. In fact, they are still calling in new witnesses and they have called in some witnesses multiple times.

Starting point is 00:01:32 So there's a lot of qualification there, as I mentioned. Witnesses have been told they could be called to testify, but investigators are still gathering information. So the sources have kind of cautioned them not to get ahead of themselves. So it sounds like there's still some legwork to be done as far as the investigation goes. Litigator Robin Nunn has been following Diddy's case closely and had taken notice of the silence from the government until this report from CNN. I was shocked by this revelation today. I understood that the federal investigation had obviously taken place, but it's been a bit quiet

Starting point is 00:02:09 as far as plans for next steps. And this most recent report seems to indicate that there are witnesses who are testifying and that there's been information that's been found perhaps on the premises that is furthering the government and law enforcement's efforts to figure out what's happened and implicate potentially Sean Cox. This is a law and crime legal alert. Google Incognito tracked users browsing data without their knowledge. Mass Tort Alliance, one of our legal sponsors, is helping users file for compensation because

Starting point is 00:02:49 Google users' privacy issues through their Incognito browser. If you've used Google Incognito anytime since 2016, you can start your claim in less than 10 questions. Just log on to incognitoclaims.com slash crime fix. But one person who's not one bit surprised that witnesses could soon be testifying in front of the grand jury is attorney Bradford Cohen, who's represented rappers like Kodak Black. He's also represented Drake and many others. So the report confirmed what I was saying for the past three weeks is that I think that a grand jury was meeting. I think that the grand jury is considering a vast amount of information and charges that are going to be surrounding Sean Combs. I think that it's going to be vast and encompassing years of different kinds of criminal activity. And I think there's going to be a lot of either co-defendants or unindicted co-defendants, depending on who they give immunity to and

Starting point is 00:03:49 who's going to be a cooperating witness. Now, you might recall that Bradford Cohen actually predicted here on Crime Fix last week that an indictment would be coming in the next three to four weeks. Cohen's not only represented a lot of famous people who've been in trouble, he's also a former federal prosecutor. So what does he think about CNN using words like potentially and saying witnesses could testify? I think that they are always trying to be cautious when it comes to indictments, especially indictments on such serious kind of accusations. They certainly don't want to have lawsuits on their hands for saying things that might not turn out to be true, even though they might have a source that might be

Starting point is 00:04:32 telling them one thing. Usually it takes more than one source to tell them something that they can confirm it through another source or through another way. And if they're having an individual telling them something just to make sure until they know for sure, they always encompass the language. Oh, it could be. It might be. Those things always happen on these type of cases. Now, while the feds have been quiet, things in Sean Combs' world have been anything but, at least over the last two weeks. So let's go back. First, on Friday, May 17th, CNN aired that surveillance video from 2016 that showed Sean Combs assaulting Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a hotel. It was absolutely shocking and confirmed some of the allegations that Ventura had made in her lawsuit that was

Starting point is 00:05:18 filed last November. Cassie had claimed that Combs subjected her to years of sexual and physical abuse and that he forced her to have sex with other people for his own pleasure. That suit was settled the next day, with Combs saying he wished Cassie love. Combs' attorney basically denied the allegations on his behalf. But that video doesn't lie, and it told a much different story than Combs' denial. Two days later, after the video aired around the world, Combs posted a video on Instagram that drew some backlash. Take a look. It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. Sometimes mean I hit rock bottom.

Starting point is 00:06:05 But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I'm disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I'm disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I had to go into therapy, I had to go into rehab. I had to ask God for His mercy and grace. I'm so sorry. But I'm committed to be a better man each and every day. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm truly sorry.

Starting point is 00:07:03 Now, you may have noticed that Combs didn't mention Cassie's name, not once. TMZ reported that was because of the settlement for the lawsuit, that Combs and Ventura agreed not to say one another's names. The video and the attempt at an apology appeared to fall flat. Here's what Bradford Cohen said about it. I think in their minds they thought they were going to make it better. I don't think Here's what Bradford Cohen said about it. uh i just don't think this was the right move is to make a statement the better move in any of these circumstances and if it's warranted is to get help for whatever trauma that individual has experienced to make them into the individual that's on the videotape and if that includes substance abuse or some sort of mental instability that's what you get help for. You don't start coming out and saying all

Starting point is 00:08:06 these statements and saying, this is what happened and this is how it happened. I was in a dark place. It's not gonna help you. Ultimately, this apology did not help him and most people kind of brushed it off and it just, it wasn't a good idea in my opinion. Then days after that, Cassie Ventura posted on Instagram. She wrote, thank you for all of the love and support from my family, friends, strangers, and those that I have yet to meet. The outpouring of love has created a place for my younger self to settle and feel safe now, but this is only the beginning. Domestic violence is the issue. She wrote the in all all caps it broke me down to someone i never thought i would become with a lot of hard work i am better today but i will always be

Starting point is 00:08:51 recovering from my past my only ask is that everyone open your heart to believing victims the first time it takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in i offer my hand to those that are still living in fear. Reach out to your people. Don't cut them off. No one should carry this weight alone. This healing journey is never ending, but this support means everything to me. Around the same time, Misa Hilton, the mother of Combs' son Justin, posted a statement of support for Cassie on Instagram. She wrote, I am heartbroken that Cassie must relive the horror of her abuse and my heart goes out to her. I know exactly how she feels and through my empathy it has triggered my own trauma.

Starting point is 00:09:34 These young people were raised by women that want the best for them. We put God and education first and have always been united in our mutual effort to support their dreams. Two of the youngest do not have their mother here and it has been our duty to support them. Their father needs help and I am praying that he truly does the personal work and receives it. Then two more civil suits were filed. One by a former model, Crystal McKinney, who claimed Combs sexually assaulted her in 2003 when she met him during Men's Fashion Week. McKinney had been a contestant on an MTV show and she won. She claims a designer introduced her to Combs and that he drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him and then she woke up in a cab.

Starting point is 00:10:17 Days later, another suit was filed by April Lampros, who claimed Combs sexually assaulted her multiple times between 1995 and the early 2000s. Lamprose claimed she met Combs when she was a college student in 1994. She claimed that Combs also forced her and his then-girlfriend, Kim Porter, to take ecstasy and have sex together. These new civil suits followed many others, one filed by a Jane Doe who claimed Combs assaulted her when she was a teenager by flying her from Michigan to New York. Another woman named Joy Dickerson-Neal said Combs sexually assaulted her in the 90s. Last December, Combs tweeted,

Starting point is 00:10:56 enough is enough. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family, and for the truth. So that was Sean Combs' tweet back in December. Combs has filed motions to dismiss the Dickerson-Neal suit and the suit filed by Jane Doe. Earlier this year, you'll recall that record producer Rodney Little Rod Jones claimed a number of things, including that Combs drugged women and teen girls and forced him

Starting point is 00:11:36 to hire sex workers and have sex with them. In addition to the lawsuits, Combs' alleged drug mule, Brendan Paul, was arrested in Miami as his homes were raided. Paul recently entered a plea agreement where possession of cocaine and marijuana charges will be dropped in exchange for Paul entering a diversion program. Is Paul cooperating with federal investigators? We don't know. Maybe we'll find out later. Now to this week and CNN reporting that witnesses could soon testify in front of the grand jury. The report says the feds are still interviewing witnesses and gathering information. But Bradford Cohen believes witnesses may have

Starting point is 00:12:25 already testified in front of the grand jury. I think the grand jury has been meeting for weeks. I don't think that this is something that just came up today. Usually when you have probable cause to do a search warrant, there's already a serious investigation and there's probably enough for a grand jury to start meeting. And I think they met within the past uh you know two weeks i would given uh that they would be meeting over the past two weeks and looking over evidence that they have obtained and witnesses that have been testifying the news about the grand jury interestingly enough came from cnn the same outlet that aired the video of combs beating up cassie so does bradford cohen think that was a coincidence?

Starting point is 00:13:09 Yeah, no, it's not a coincidence. And like I said before, when we spoke earlier, the fact that CNN is breaking this information, the fact that CNN broke the quote unquote video, it's very obvious to me that there is a there's a line to CNN. That line is being used to set a certain narrative. And that narrative is essentially what they came out with, that Cassie is a victim. She was powerless in this situation. So when this indictment does come out, which I think it would be coming out towards the end of June, when the indictment does come out and they label Cassie as an unindicted co-conspirator or as a co-conspirator that's cooperating, it will mitigate the type of information that's in that indictment. Because I think that she was certainly a participant in a lot of things that went on. But by her saying she was powerless and she was in this relationship, and that could be

Starting point is 00:14:01 completely true, I don't know. But that narrative that she was powerless and in this situation that she could do nothing about supports her being a witness that would garner immunity as opposed to a co-defendant. Cohen has no doubt that Sean Combs and his attorneys know an indictment is coming. It's just a matter of when. There's no doubt in my mind that Sean Combs knows that this is coming. He hasn't left the state of Florida. I don't think he's going to leave the matter of when. There's no doubt in my mind that Sean Combs knows that this is coming. He hasn't left the state of Florida.

Starting point is 00:14:26 I don't think he's going to leave the state of Florida. I think they've already spoken to his attorney. And this is just my guess, but I think they've already spoken to his attorney and indicated that if he leaves the state of Florida, that they will file a complaint and that complaint will then pick him up and he'll be arrested based on the complaint, as opposed to waiting for the indictment and then allowing him to come in and bond out and still be free. And I think that's the agreement that was made. So I think he's waiting on the grand jury coming back and what charges the grand jury

Starting point is 00:14:56 are going to come back with. I find it would be very hard to believe that he doesn't expect that the grand jury is going to be indicting and his lawyer doesn't know that the grand jury is going to be indicting and his lawyer doesn't know that the grand jury is going to be indicting, not based on what I've seen and his actions since the raid. Remember the raid and the big show of force from the feds back in March, there were armored vehicles, guys with big guns, all kinds of things like that. Well, I've spoken to a few people who don't believe you'll see that if Sean Combs is indeed indicted. Many people believe his attorneys would arrange for him to turn himself into the authorities.

Starting point is 00:15:33 My guess would be is the reason why he's agreeing to not go anywhere, to not fly anywhere, not leave the state of Florida and stay within his home. I believe that that is part of the agreement is that when an indictment does come down, that he would be free to surrender himself on that indictment because he shows no reason not to. You know, if an individual is flying around the country or leaving the country and coming back or different things of that nature, withdrawing a huge sum of money, things that would give the government pause to, you know, do some sort of great raid on their home and things of that. They've already done the raid, right? They've already gotten the press on the raid that they did. I don't think it's necessary to use that kind of manpower to make an arrest after the fact. And I think that that's why

Starting point is 00:16:14 they showed such great manpower on the original search is because the feds like that. They, they, they, you know, if you look at high high profile individuals getting arrested, they either do one of two things. Either they raid their home with massive amounts of people and guns and, you know, 25 different agents, or when they make the actual arrest, they arrest that individual with SWAT and helicopters and things of that nature. So I think this one, they're going to allow him to surrender himself. So now it's really a waiting game. Are witnesses testifying in front of the grand jury right now, or will it take some time? No matter what's happening behind closed doors, the belief is that the feds are building a

Starting point is 00:16:55 case that will be big and they will want it to be as tight as it can be. So stay tuned. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for joining me. I'll see you back here next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Sexual Assault Accusations to Be Heard by Grand Jury: Report

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