Six months ago surveillance video leaked of Bad Boy Entertainment CEO, Sean 'Diddy' Combs assaulting his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hotel hallway [click here if you missed that].
Prosecutors in Diddy's human trafficking case deny leaking the video...
A video showing Sean 'Diddy' Combs violently assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura was not illegally leaked to CNN by prosecutors because they did not have it at the time, attorneys insisted last night.
Federal prosecutors made the claim in a new filing, which accuses the rapper's lawyers of trying to 'suppress a damning piece of evidence' and prevent jurors from seeing Combs 'brutally assaulting a victim'.
Combs' lawyers made the leak claims earlier this month, but government attorneys responded by urging the judge overseeing the case to reject their request for an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday.
'Without any factual basis, the leak motion seeks to suppress highly probative evidence… by claiming that it was grand jury material leaked by government agents,' prosecutors wrote.
'But, as the defendant is fully aware, the video was not in the Government's possession at the time of CNN's publication and the Government has never, at any point, obtained the video through grand jury process.'
The video, shared by CNN back in May, shows Combs attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Combs' attorneys have demanded an investigation into the alleged leaks, claiming they had 'led to damaging, highly prejudicial pre-trial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr Combs of his right to a fair trial.'
They specifically pointed to the 2016 video, claiming it was 'leaked' to 'mortally wound the reputation and the prospect of Sean Combs successfully defending himself against these allegations.'
'Rather than using the videotape as trial evidence, alongside other evidence that gives it context and meaning, the agents misused it in the most prejudicial and damaging way possible,' his lawyers went on.
Wednesday's filing also responded to Combs' recent demand that the names of his alleged victims be revealed.
His lawyers claimed earlier this month that he cannot be fairly defended without access to this information.
The government said that such disclosures would result in 'serious risks' to the alleged victims' safety.
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