Diddy’s attorney blasted the “military-level force” federal authorities used while raiding the rapper’s Florida and California homes Monday.
The hip-hop mogul is being investigated for sex-trafficking, according to law enforcement sources, allegations which his attorney, Aaron Dyer, blasted as a “witch hunt.”
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Dyer told TMZ.
“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”
Diddy’s sons Justin Combs, 30, and King Combs, 25, were briefly handcuffed and detained after being removed from the LA house, but were not arrested and are not thought to be part of the federal investigation.
Authorities targeted 54-year-old Diddy’s two residences in Los Angeles and Miami to seize his phones and computers, law enforcement sources told The Post.
“This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” Dyer added.
Diddy, also known as Sean Combs, was not arrested or charged “but spoke to and cooperated with authorities,” his lawyer said.
Here's what we know about the allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs
- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security amid a possible connection with an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation.
- Authorities targeted the rapper’s homes to seize phones and computers, sources told The Post.
- Combs was spotted outside a Miami airport slowly strolling back and forth Monday just hours after the raids, according to reports.
- Brendan Paul, a music producer and basketball player, was arrested on drug charges at a Miami airport while attempting to board Combs’ private jet. Paul has been accused of being a “drug mule” for Combs in a federal lawsuit.
- At least four Jane Does and one John Doe have been interviewed by New York prosecutors in connection to sex-trafficking allegations and a RICO case, sources told Rolling Stone.
- Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie (Cassandra Ventura) filed a lawsuit against him in November 2023 on several allegations, including rape and physical abuse for over a decade.
- Combs and Cassie settled the lawsuit one day after she filed it.
- In November 2023, the rapper was accused of drugging, filming and sexually assaulting a woman on a date in 1991.
- The lawsuit describes how Combs drove the alleged victim to a music studio “where she could not get out of the car” before taking her “to a place he was staying to sexually assault her.”
- A third woman filed a lawsuit against the celebrity in November 2023, claiming that he and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns sexually assaulting her and a friend in the early 1990s.
- The woman, listed as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, claimed that a couple of days after the assault, Combs came to the home where she and her friend were staying and violently attacked her.
- In December 2023, Combs was hit with a fourth sexual assault lawsuit that accused him and others of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his NYC recording studio after drugging her and supplying her with alcohol.
His travel has not been restricted in any way, he added.
The Homeland Security Investigations Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the raids based on a search warrant issued by the Southern District of New York.
At least four Jane Does and one John Doe have been interviewed by New York prosecutors in connection to sex-trafficking allegations and a RICO case, Rolling Stone reported.
Diddy’s employee Brendon Paul, 25, was busted at Miami’s Opa Locka Airport on Monday when federal authorities caught up to him while he was about to board a private plane with Diddy, who was spotted at the same airport that afternoon talking on his phone and pacing.
Paul was booked on one count of possession of suspected cocaine and suspected marijuana edibles after substances in his bag tested positive for drugs, according to a police report obtained by The Post.
He has since been bailed out of jail.
Diddy has vehemently denied all allegations against him.
Combs came under fire last year after his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura sued him, alleging she experienced years of sexual abuse from the rapper.
The case was almost immediately settled.
He is also facing several lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse, which he has also denied.
