When Sean “Diddy” Combs attempted to be released on bail following his indictment on sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution charges, prosecutors rejected his claim that he should be granted the same free speech rights as President-elect Donald Trump.
After Combs was accused of attempting to influence jurors from jail via an orchestrated online and phone campaign involving friends and family, his attorneys argued in a filing Monday that he should have the same rights as Trump, who badgered law enforcement officials publicly and online in the election interference case following the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The lawsuit against Trump, filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, is being abandoned because there is no precedent for taking such action against a sitting president.
Combs’ attorney cited the District of Columbia Appeals Court’s decision in United States v. Trump last December, which ruled that the former president could only be restrained in his attacks on the case if there was a “significant and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice.”
The judge determined that Trump is “free to make statements criticizing the current administration, the Department of Justice, and the Special Counsel, as well as statements that this prosecution is politically motivated or that he is innocent of the charges against him.”
Combs’ attorneys contended that the “court should apply Trump’s heightened standard when considering” limiting their client’s speech.
But prosecutors in the Brooklyn case didn’t buy it.
In a response filed later Monday, they said that Trump’s judges “faced the unique task of balancing a current presidential candidate’s right to speak publicly about his charges against the public’s right to a fair trial.” They argued that Combs’ communications “are not protected by the First Amendment.”
The defense team’s filing came in response to US District Court Judge Arun Subramanian’s request last week that both sides clarify whether Combs’ public communications constitute obstruction of justice.
Combs has been denied bail twice. The court stated Friday that he will rule on his most recent bail application later this week. Combs’ trial is scheduled for May 5.