Clayton Howard says the Justice Department used his story to boost Diddy’s prison sentence, then threw him away once the cameras were gone.
In a new motion filed in Manhattan federal court, Howard accuses prosecutors of exploiting his trauma to secure Diddy’s conviction for transporting male prostitutes across state lines, then denying him every fundamental right guaranteed under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
The filing names former Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, the daughter of ex-FBI Director James Comey, as the official who oversaw his cooperation and later tried to silence him when he attempted to testify about Cassie Ventura’s alleged role in the encounters.
“Assistant Prosecutor Maurene Comey became annoyed when I said I wanted to tell the truth about both of my offenders,” Howard said. “She said I was too traumatized to testify, which I denied.”
Howard describes years of travel between New York, Los Angeles, and Miami from 2012 to 2019. He says Diddy and Ventura recruited him through ads on Backpage.com and paid him between $1,500 and $6,000 to participate in orchestrated “Freak Offs,” during which Diddy watched while Ventura engaged with male escorts.
The government later used his cooperation and evidence to classify him as a “victim,” one of five under Count 3, a move that increased Diddy’s sentencing under federal guidelines. But when Howard tried to exercise his victim rights after the trial, he says prosecutors shut him out.
He sent three unanswered letters, made a personal trip to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, and had a short call with a victim-witness advocate who never returned his message. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson finally responded, not to help him, but to allegedly deny that he was a victim at all.
“I have been patient and persistent,” Howard wrote. “The government used my cooperation when it served their interest, but now treats me as if I do not exist.”
Howard’s frustration erupted after discovering that the government’s sentencing memo explicitly listed him as a victim, the same designation prosecutors later rejected when he requested assistance applying for the Backpage Remission Program.
This federal fund will distribute more than $200 million to trafficking victims. With a February 2, 2026, deadline approaching, Howard says he’s racing against the clock to prove his eligibility.
Howard is also taking aim at prosecutors’ alleged efforts to protect Ventura’s image during the trial. Howard claims he was ready to testify that Cassie “was not a victim of sex trafficking but an active participant.”
Instead, he says Comey and others kept him silent by misusing protective orders. He argues that this selective narrative helped secure the disgraced mogul’s conviction while concealing Ventura’s alleged complicity.
Comey’s name is already back in the headlines for different reasons.
Her ouster drew heavy criticism from legal peers who saw it as part of a broader political purge of career prosecutors. Howard’s filing now links her firing to the Diddy saga, suggesting that internal politics and public image influenced how victims were handled.
He was acquitted of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. He is serving his sentence at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Howard insists the government owes him more than silence.
“All I want is fairness, dignity, and the same respect given to every other victim,” he said.
