Sean Diddy drew comparisons to President-elect Donald Trump in his latest bid for bail before Thanksgiving. Trump’s reference came in the context of prosecutors claiming that DD tried to influence their case through an online public relations campaign. DD’s lawyers said Donald Trump enjoyed free speech rights and posted on social media the allegations in the election interference case – which were dropped on Monday in the latest development.
“Only a substantial and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice would justify restricting Mr. Trump’s speech,” the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a December ruling that Combs’ lawyers now defend Diddy’s right to free speech.
Like Trump, Combs is a criminal defendant with a presumption of innocence, DD’s lawyers wrote. DD, like Trump or any other federal criminal defendant, has a constitutional right to criticize and speak out against the prosecution.
“Accordingly, the court must apply Trump’s higher standard when considering Mr. Combs’ speech here,” the filing said.
DD was found to be communicating from jail, which prosecutors cited as a basis for denying him bail, saying DD was trying to influence the investigation. Prosecutors said Diddy was planning a PR campaign as he showed support for his family members by making an Instagram post on his 55th birthday. DD’s lawyers said that this is not obstruction of justice as DD has the right to do this.
Diddy was arrested in September on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for engaging in prostitution. DD rejected all the charges and will now face trial from May 5, 2025.
‘I don’t mind. it’s my birthday’
According to reports, DD’s lawyers warned her not to post that Instagram through her family members. But DD said, “I don’t care. It’s my birthday”. Prosecutors said DD used ContactMeASAP.com, a Combs also used the phone accounts of at least eight other inmates and patched his phone calls to third parties. Prosecutors said it went beyond a simple birthday PR campaign.
“Mr. Coombs does not have to sit idly by and accept all this. He has a right to a fair hearing and a constitutional right to speak on his own behalf,” DD’s lawyers said.
‘You are not Trump’
Prosecutors responded to the filing by DD’s lawyers, saying the First Amendment claim against Donald Trump is without merit.
Prosecutors wrote that Trump’s jurors “faced the unique task of speaking publicly about their allegations against the public’s right to a fair trial.”