3 weeks ago
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Diddy cited Donald Trump's free speech rights to defend his PR campaign from jail.
Sean Diddy drew a comparison with President-elect Donald Trump in his latest bid for a bail release ahead of Thanksgiving. The reference to Trump came in the context of the prosecutors claiming that Diddy tried to influence his case through an online public relations campaign. Diddy's attorneys said Donald Trump enjoyed free speech rights and posted on social media on charges of election interference case -- which were dropped on Monday in the latest developments.
"Only a significant and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice will support restricting Mr. Trump's speech," the DC Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a decision from December that Combs' lawyers now quote defending Diddy's right to free speech.
Like Trump, Combs is a criminal defendant with the presumption of innocence, Diddy's lawyers wrote. Diddy, like Trump or any other federal criminal defendant, has the constitutional claim to criticise and speak out against the prosecution.
"Accordingly, the Court should apply Trump's heightened standard when considering Mr Combs' speech here," the filing said.
Diddy was found to be communicating from jail which the prosecutors cited as grounds for rejection of his bail and said Diddy was trying to influence the investigation. The prosecutors said Diddy was orchestrating a PR campaign like he told his family members to create an Instagram post on his 55th birthday showing support. Diddy's lawyers said this was not an obstruction of justice as Diddy had the right to do this.
Diddy was arrested in September on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation for engagement in prostitution. Diddy rejected all the charges and will now face trial beginning on May 5, 2025.
'I don't care. It's my birthday'
According to reports, Diddy's lawyers warned him to not make that Instagram post through his family members. But Diddy said, "I don't care. It's my birthday". The prosecutors said Diddy used ContactMeASAP.com, a Combs also used at least eight other inmates' phone accounts and had third parties patched into his phone calls. The prosecutors said all these went beyond a simple birthday PR campaign.
"Mr Combs is not required to sit idly by and acquiesce to all of this. He has a right to a fair trial and a constitutional right to speak out on his own behalf," Diddy's lawyers said.
'You're no Trump'
The prosecutors responded to the filing by Diddy's lawyers and said it is baseless to claim the First Amendment comparing to Donald Trump.
Trump's judges "faced the unique task of balancing the right of a current candidate for the presidency to speak publicly about his charges against the public's right in a fair trial," the prosecutors wrote.
