Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer said Tuesday that federal officials’ searches of the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami houses in a sex trafficking probe were “a gross use of military-level force” and that Combs is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his reputation.
The music mogul’s team has issued its first public statement since Homeland Security Investigations investigators raided his houses on Monday.
“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” stated attorney Aaron Dyer. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”
The searches were conducted as part of federal investigators’ ongoing sex trafficking investigation in New York, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials were not allowed to speak publicly about the probe and talked to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Combs was not held and spoke with officials, and neither he nor any family members were arrested or had their travel restricted, according to Dyer’s statement.
Dyer went on to say that the “unprecedented ambush” was the result of a “premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations,” Dyer said in a statement. “Mr. Combs is innocent.”
Combs’ kids, Justin and Christian “King” Combs, were handcuffed during the raid on their father’s home in Los Angeles. King, 25, is a musician whose song “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” featuring Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.
Law authorities raided Combs’ multimillion-dollar estate in Los Angeles’ wealthy Holmby Hills area on Monday, as well as his Miami waterfront home. Along with a large number of cops, command vehicles were stationed outside both homes.
The criminal probe marks a significant increase in Combs’ attention, since he has been the defendant in a number of sexual assault lawsuits in recent months.
Cassie, Combs’ former apprentice and lover, sued him in November, alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. Combs settled the lawsuit the next day. The complaint claimed he pushed her to have sex with male prostitutes while filming them.
In February, a music producer sued Combs, saying that he pushed him into soliciting prostitutes and pressuring him to have sex with them.
Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her at the age of 17 two decades ago.
Combs and his counsel have rejected all of the plaintiffs’ claims.
The Associated Press does not normally name persons who claim to have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, like Cassie did.
