The prosecutor who put Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars and handled the case against Jeffrey Epstein has joined the prosecution team pursuing sex trafficking and racketeering charges against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Maurene Comey, the 32-year old daughter of former FBI director James Comey, notified the court on Monday that she has joined the case against the rap mogul who is currently in jail awaiting trial.
The lawyer is best known as one of the three lead prosecutors who secured a conviction in 2021 against Ghislaine Maxwell for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein on the sexual abuse and trafficking of minors.
She was also a prosecutor in the case against Epstein, who was indicted in July 2019 for numerous sex crimes but was found dead in his prison cell before his trial.
The nine-year veteran of the office of US attorney for the Southern District of New York, among the most prestigious federal prosecutor’s offices in the nation, stepped into the case after prosecutors managed to prevail in in keeping Combs detained in prison as he awaits trial.
The court last week denied the rap mogul’s bid for bail for a third time, finding that no conditions of release can assure the safety of the community.
It pointed to Combs’ alleged history of violence, which includes the use of firearms, kidnapping and arson, to intimidate victims and witnesses with the help of his vast business empire, as well as evidence indicating that he’s tried to obscure communications with people he’s been barred from contacting.
Combs’ defence team, led by Marc Agnifilo, has aggressively challenged the prosecution at every turn.
On top of repeatedly pursuing bail, it 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 of Combs violently assaulting the singer Cassie.
Combs claimed that the Department of Homeland Security leaked the video to CNN as part of a scheme to secure an indictment from the grand jury and prevent him from getting a fair trial.
The court on Monday instructed prosecutors to submit an affidavit attesting that they weren’t the source of the leaks by Wednesday.
Under a federal rule of criminal procedure, the government is barred from disclosing “anything that will reveal what transpired” during grand jury proceedings.
Agnifilo, who faced federal prosecutors in a similar RICO case involving NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, has a long history of representing high-profile figures including Martin Shkreli, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Roger Ng.
He spent nearly two decades working for ex-Harvey Weinstein lawyer Ben Brafman.
He and another of Combs’ lawyers, Teny Geragos, have a history of defending conspicuous figures accused of major crimes.
Combs was indicted in September on multiple charges that allege he was the figurehead of a massive criminal operation for decades aimed at satisfying his need for “sexual gratification”.
The case centres on his elaborate, well-known “freak off” parties, in which the rapper would allegedly give victims drugs and then coerce them into sexual acts.
He was also accused of acts of violence to keep victims silent. His trial is currently set to begin on May 5, next year.
If convicted on all of the charges, Combs could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletterhere.