𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Special Agent Penland is testifying about flight and hotel records for Combs, Ventura, and male sex workers that were paid for by Bad Boy Entertainment.

Those records get to the heart of the government’s transportation for prostitution purposes charge.

Penland testified that flight records from 2009 indicate Bad Boy Entertainment paid for a round-trip flight from New York to Los Angeles for Jules Theodore – a male sex worker whom Combs and Ventura often hired.

Hotel records show that Combs’ credit card was charged for the stay.

Another hotel record showed a stay for Clayton Howard, who was known to Combs and Venutra as “Dave.”

Special Agent Deleassa Penland is back on the stand to testify about the evidence collected in Combs’ investigation.

Penland did not work on the investigation but reviewed evidence for jurors yesterday.

Judge Arun Subramanian opened Tuesday’s proceeding with a warning to both the prosecution and defense after a reporter seemingly published information that was supposed to remain under seal.

Subramanian was furious and threatened to initiate a formal investigation into the matter to determine how information that was under seal had been leaked to the press.

“Someone is lying … the transcript was sealed,” Subramanian said.

It is unclear what article Subramanian was referring to exactly or who published it.

Today, the court will finish up Special Agent Penland’s testimony, connecting the dots between flight records, hotel stays, and text messages that seem to correspond to freak offs.

Then we’ll hear from Brendan Paul, whose testimony should take us through the end of the day.

Jurors were shown videos of “freak offs” for the first time on Monday, six weeks into the eight-week trial.

While the panel has previously heard audio recordings and seen still images of the sex marathons, yesterday marked the first time the jurors watched clips of the days-long drug-fueled sex marathons.

Jurors watched the footage after hearing weeks of testimony about the sex encounters in intensive detail, from planning them – assistants buying baby oil and lube, women coordinating with escorts, the cash transactions – his ex-girlfriend’s feelings about them and how the encounters were recorded.

But oddly, the jurors appeared almost desensitized, barely reacting to the clips at all.

Here’s a full report from Kelly Rissman.

Today’s first witness is likely to be the returning Deleassa Penland, a special agent with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who is expected to conclude the testimony she began yesterday before we hear from alleged “drug mule” Brendan Paul.

The government has said it expects to wrap up its case against Diddy by the middle of the week so we are nearing the end of this phase of proceedings.

On Monday, Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed Juror No. 6 after he came under scrutiny from prosecutors last week over an alleged “lack of candor” with the court.

The fate of another juror, who might have spoken improperly about the case, was left in the balance and we can get a ruling on that too.

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs as it resumes in New York.

Combs is facing sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy charges.

He was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024.

Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.