News : Diddy Suffers Setback As Judge Rejects Claim Government Leaked Cassie Assault Video

Diddy has suffered yet another setback in his sex traffing case as a judge has rejected his claim that prosecutors leaked the footage of him assaulting Cassie in 2016.

Judge Arun Subramanian issued a ruling on Monday (December 16) denying the Bad Boy boss’ motion for an evidentiary hearing on “alleged government leaks of case information.”

“As to the Intercontinental Hotel video, Combs [Diddy] has not carried his burden to show that the government leaked it to CNN,” the judge wrote. “Combs argues that ‘the most likely source of the leak is the government,’ but he doesn’t point to any sound basis for this conclusion.”

Judge Subramanian also said that prosecutors submitted evidence he reviewed privately that “presents compelling evidence that CNN’s source was not in fact the government.”

He added: “And importantly, nothing in CNN’s presentation of the video even hinted that the source was a government agent.”

His ruling concluded: “The Court reminds the public that whether the government can prove Combs’ guilt in this case will turn on the evidence presented at trial, not in a ‘trial by newspapers.'”

In an October filing, Diddy and his lawyers accused the government of being behind various media leaks in the case, specifically the hotel security video of him attacking Cassie.

Puffy argued that the leaks were “planned and executed” by the Department of Homeland Security, the same agency that carried out the raids on his homes earlier this year.

“The videotape was leaked to CNN for one reason alone: to mortally wound the reputation and the prospect of Sean Combs successfully defending himself against these allegations,” the motion read.

The filing also argued for the court to “forbid government attorneys and agents involved in the case from leaking any further information to the media.”

The government vehemently denied being behind any leak, stating in a letter to the court that they were “not in possession of the video before its publication by CNN. Indeed, at the time of CNN’s publication, the Government did not possess any video of the March 2016 incident.”

If the judge had ruled in Diddy’s favor then the evidence could have been prevented from being used at the trial or charges could have been dropped against the embattled mogul.

Diddy is currently jailed at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre and is likely to remain behind bars until his trial begins in May.

Last week, the 55-year-old gave up on his fight for bail after being denied pre-trial release three times.

In the most recent denial in November, Judge Subramanian cited concerns over Diddy’s “propensity for violence” and witness tampering risks, among other reasons.