Jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial will hear from a close ally of the rapper when former Syracuse basketball player Brendan Paul takes the stand Friday.
Paul became embroiled in Diddy’s legal drama in April 2024, after he was named in a lawsuit filed by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones against the disgraced mogul. The music producer claimed Paul worked as a “mule” for Combs, procuring and distributing “drugs and guns.” The former college basketball star was then charged with felony cocaine possession, which was later dropped.
Paul was given immunity in exchange for his testimony in Diddy’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
Nicole Blank Becker explained that Paul may be a crucial witness to the government as it attempts to tie up loose ends and wrap its case against Diddy.
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“In this particular case, why [Brendan Paul] may be important is because he is allegedly one of the individuals who supplied the drugs,” Becker told Fox News Digital. “The distribution of drugs, giving other people drugs to make them intoxicated and possibly do more than they would do had they not been intoxicated – that’s a predicate felony.
“In other words, in order to prove this particular charge of racketeering, there’s got to be a number of other felonies that they can connect,” the attorney said. “Whether it’s the coercion of women and/or they indicated about how … [Diddy] brought [escorts] in. That’s one way to prove a predicate. You have to prove two of them. So, another way to prove a predicate felony is bring in the guy who supposedly is the one who was supplying P. Diddy and or his people with what [the government is] gonna say, the drugs that he used [on others.]”
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Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy (RICO); sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution in a federal indictment unsealed Sept. 17.
Throughout two weeks of testimony, jurors heard allegations of “freak off” parties involving male escorts and Diddy’s ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. The “Me & U” singer testified that drugs, including ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine, were in regular circulation during the “freak offs” for her to disassociate during the sessions.
Cassie admitted ecstasy made her feel euphoric and aroused, while ketamine would make her dissociative. She said cocaine made her heart race, mushrooms made her see things and GHB, also known as the date rape drug, made her feel drunk.
Another ex, who testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” told prosecutors there were times she felt coerced into hotel nights with Diddy and that the Bad Boy Records founder still pays for both her legal fees and rent.
Jane recalled alleged instances of abuse while dating Diddy on and off for three years and up until the week before he was arrested in New York City on federal charges. Jane told the court Diddy asked her about coercion after he allegedly forced her to take drugs before having sex with a male escort. She testified about Diddy’s alleged violent behavior and said he once put her in a chokehold after kicking and punching her.
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Diddy’s criminal defense lawyer, Teny Geragos, questioned Jane about her relationship with the rapper and her participation in the allegedly forced “hotel nights.”
Diddy paid Jane’s rent through their “love contract,” according to her testimony. The ex-girlfriend told the prosecution she felt obligated to perform at “hotel nights” for the rapper because he had threatened to stop paying for her home. For “hotel nights,” Jane claimed she was expected to dress in lingerie and have sex with other men in front of the rapper.
Audio released in Diddy’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial featured the rapper calling Jane a “crack pipe.” Jane claimed she was forced to continue having sex with multiple male escorts after becoming sick.
Becker, who works as R. Kelly’s defense attorney, explained why the government might offer immunity to witnesses the government wants to testify. In Diddy’s sex trafficking case, Paul was the fifth witness granted immunity.
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“It is very common, especially in federal cases, that immunity is given to witnesses if they have the information or the insight that they need for their case,” Becker said. “Oftentimes, those individuals who are given immunity, although they may have crimes that they are either facing or faced, they’re usually a lot less in the hierarchy of crimes.
“They’re usually lower crimes in which the government says, ‘You know what, this information that this particular person has is so important that we are willing to forego whatever you’ve got going on in the criminal section or division now here so that we can have you testify in this bigger case.’
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“Their goal, i.e. the government, is to get in as much possible information from anybody who knows anything.”
Nearly six weeks after the trial began, prosecutors indicated they’d rest their case by Friday. The rapper’s legal team recently told Judge Arun Subramanian it will need between two and five days to present its case, a stark contrast to its initial request of up to two weeks with witnesses on the stand.
Becker noted there were a lot of questions whether the government was “actually proving anything specific” to the charges Diddy faced.
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“Yes, there was domestic violence. Yes, there was some … relationships and physical violence happening, but does that rise to the level of what he’s actually charged with in the federal court?” Becker said. “I think at the beginning there were question marks everywhere. However, I think as time goes on, what does the government do?
“They just throw up witness after witness. Although those individual witnesses have their own story, together they form what they are trying to form, which is this step beneath P. Diddy, who’s up here. And these individuals, each individual person has a role in what they’re calling the enterprise.”
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Becker said this was the connection the government was attempting to prove to the 12 jurors.
“In a vacuum, if we just had the first witness or we just had Jane, who just testified, people, I think, would be a little confused, like, ‘Wait a minute.’ Maybe call him a bad boyfriend, a bad person, a bad husband for sure, based on what we see, for example, in the video,” Becker said. “But does that rise to the level that the government needs to get to in order for an ultimate verdict of guilty?
“I think, like I said, at the beginning, it was a little shaky. However, as time goes on, they are able to put in their different witnesses and really shape what they’re trying to shape, which is to basically, you know, this charge of RICO in the United States. This has not, it was not initially made for purposes of the way it’s being used now.”
