Jeffrey Lichtman, the distinguished protection lawyer retained by Sean “Diddy” Combs’ son Justin, accused federal investigators of leaking particulars in regards to the search warrants served on the hip-hop billionaire’s mansions in Miami and Los Angeles and trying to affect public opinion with a present of pressure.
In the latest episode of “Beyond the Legal Limit,” an hour-long present that coated a variety of subjects from landline telephones to the Israel-Hamas battle, Lichtman spent about six minutes on the Combs case.
His consumer was seen on video of the raid escorted out, compelled to stroll backward together with his fingers on his head.
“The government is not always good and not always honest and doesn’t always play by the rules. In fact, it oftentimes does not play by the rules,” he stated on the newest episode.
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“What bothers me the most about it is not so much the search — the overboard search that occurred on Puff Daddy’s two homes — but the fact that the press was certainly told about it either immediately or right before,” Lichtman stated.
“They were all there, ready to record it. They were all there, told about it and breathlessly reporting what anonymous agents of law enforcement are telling them about what they’re looking for, evidence of sex trafficking,” he added. “That’s bad because that’s just an evil thing for our government or law enforcement to do.”
One former federal legislation enforcement officer argued that the Combs searches created an pointless danger, recalling the notorious ATF raid on the Branch Davidians’ Waco, Texas, compound in 1993, which resulted in additional than 70 deaths contained in the compound and accidents to twenty brokers.
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“David Koresh jogged alone every morning. He went to a Starbucks for coffee every day,” stated Dave Katz, a former DEA particular agent. “He could have been taken very quietly and privately.”
Instead, the standoff grew to become a “press event” that led to tragedy.
“I don’t know who got the idea to publicize these sorts of things, but it is outrageous,” he stated.
No one was damage within the Homeland Security Investigations raids on Combs’ properties, and plenty of specialists argue the present of pressure was needed to guard the protection of the brokers and native police.
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“They had a good idea what was in those residences before they raided them,” stated David Gelman, a protection legal professional and former prosecutor who has been on each side of the problem. “They have to take precautions, but this was way overboard, and you have to have your head in the sand not to see this being just as much if not more for publicity’s sake.”
On the one aspect, current allegations in a sequence of lawsuits allege Combs had weapons within the house and that there might be armed people on his property, legal professionals have famous, creating a necessity for legislation enforcement brokers to be protected with tactical gear and enormous numbers. On the opposite hand, critics argue security may’ve been achieved with fewer dramatics.
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“It’s not like they’ve done anything wrong. It’s just the optics of it,” stated Lara Yeretsian, a distinguished California protection legal professional whose previous purchasers have included the late hip-hip icon Nate Dogg and Michael Jackson. “I don’t know what evidence they’ve gathered and what stage of the investigation that they’re at, but we know that what we’ve watched made it seem like they’re going after a bin Laden. “
The raids despatched a transparent message, she added.Â
“Someone thought that it was necessary for the media to cover it – and because there was a message,” she stated. “And the message is we treat him as the highest level of criminal.”
HSI didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Lichtman, who beforehand represented John Gotti Jr. and the cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, argued that authorities leaks poison the general public notion of defendants earlier than trial.
“By using the press to leak what they’re looking for, they’re just dirtying a potentially future jury pool,” he stated, in response to experiences that legislation enforcement sources had confirmed the search warrants had been a part of a human trafficking investigation.
Combs has additionally been accused of trafficking in a sequence of lawsuits, together with one from a lady who alleges she was within the eleventh grade when a pair of Bad Boy Records executives flew her in a personal jet from Michigan to New York City to fulfill Combs for an evening of medication, alcohol and sexual assaults.
Lichtman additionally tore into one other lawsuit, wherein Justin Combs has been named a co-defendant, as “utterly bonkers.” Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, a music producer who labored on Diddy’s newest report, “The Love Album,” is accusing the music mogul of sexually assaulting him, masking up a taking pictures and different misdeeds.
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“It’s clearly written in an effort to get as much publicity as possible, not only for the case, but for the lawyer whose name I don’t even remember, literally some maniac,” Lichtman stated. “And the feds, the idea that they’re taking that stuff as gospel, which it very well may be they are, is almost hard to believe.”
Jones’ legal professional, Tyrone Blackburn, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
“It was also smart for Diddy’s son to get Jeff Lichtman involved,” Gelman stated. “It doesn’t matter if he is charged or not. The feds will certainly try and question him.”
Hiring a lawyer, he famous, does not show guilt or innocence.
Despite the federal investigation, Combs has not been charged with a criminal offense and denied all accusations of wrongdoing.Â
His legal professional known as Jones’ lawsuit “pure fiction.”
“Lil Rod (Rodney Jones) is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30 million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday,” Combs’ lawyer, Shawn Holley, beforehand instructed Fox News Digital. “His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines.”
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