Photo Credit: Sean “Diddy” Combs for Cannes Lions Learning / CC by 3.0
One of the lead prosecutors who convicted Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021 joins the ranks in the Department of Justice’s case against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The prosecution team pursuing sex trafficking charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs just added Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI director James Comey, to its ranks. She is best known as one of the three lead prosecutors who convicted Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021 for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually traffic and abuse minors.
Comey officially announced on Monday that she’s joined the prosecution team. Before her career as a prosecutor, Maurene Comey clerked for a federal judge in New York and was an associate for a year at prestigious firm Debevoise & Plimpton.
On Wednesday, the court denied Combs bail for a third time, ruling that “no conditions of release can assure the safety of the community.” The court cited Combs’ alleged history of violence, including the use of firearms, kidnapping, and arson, to intimidate victims and witnesses with the aid of his vast business empire. Evidence also indicates he has tried to obscure communications with people he’s been barred from contacting.
His defense team, led by Marc Agnifilo, has vehemently denied the charges and challenged the prosecution at every turn. In addition to repeatedly pursuing bail, the team moved in October for a court order that would keep a potential jury from considering evidence allegedly leaked to the media by prosecutors, including hotel surveillance footage from 2016 of Combs violently assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura.
Combs claimed the Department of Homeland Security leaked the video to CNN as part of a scheme to secure an indictment from the grand jury, and thus preventing him from getting a fair trial. On Monday, the court ordered prosecutors to submit an affidavit by Wednesday attesting they were not the source of the leaks. The government is barred from disclosing “anything that will reveal what transpired” during grand jury proceedings.
Agnifilo has a long history of representing high-profile figures accused of major crimes. He spent nearly 20 years working for former Harvey Weinstein lawyer Ben Brafman, and has represented the likes of Martin Shkreli, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Roger Ng, and NXIVM leader Keith Raniere.
