Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team is gunning for the government’s search warrants, arguing federal agents misled the court and hid crucial evidence, including what his attorneys call “freak-off” tapes that they claim prove alleged victims were willing participants.
In the latest legal wrangling between Diddy and prosecutors, his attorneys allege that the government “sought several warrants to search
Mr. Combs’s residences, his electronic devices, and his person—and it presented a grossly distorted picture of the facts.”
The filing contends that federal agents omitted key evidence that undermined their case, including text messages between alleged victims and the hip-hop mogul.
“The warrant applications presented a grossly distorted picture of reality,” his lawyer Alexandra A.E. Shapiro explained. “The government had in its possession, for example, a variety of evidence…suggesting Victim-1’s participation in the alleged ‘freak-offs’ (FOs) was voluntary and consensual, not coerced as the government suggested in its applications.”
Diddy, who has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his September arrest, is facing RICO and sex trafficking charges.
Prosecutors allege he ran a criminal enterprise centered around drugs, sex trafficking, and obstruction of justice.
But his attorneys argue that the warrants used to arrest him and seize his digital devices, iCloud accounts, and even his Park Hyatt hotel room were overly broad and unconstitutional.
The motion blasts federal agents for allegedly omitting exculpatory evidence in their warrant applications.
“The government hid evidence undermining these witnesses’ credibility and presented misleading and selective accounts. We are not dealing here with omission of a few ancillary facts. This is a case of systematic deception,” Shapiro claimed. “The warrant applications were ‘calculated to mislead,’ omitting ‘clearly critical’ evidence.”
Diddy’s team is pushing for a Franks hearing—a legal proceeding to determine whether the government deliberately misled the judge when obtaining the search warrants.
His attorneys claim the probable cause statements were “intentionally misleading” and that authorities “leaked damaging information” before executing what they describe as “military-style raids” on his properties.
In particular, the motion zeroes in on what prosecutors have labeled as key evidence: alleged “freak-off” tapes, which the government claims document Diddy’s involvement in sex trafficking.
The defense argues these recordings were in federal custody before agents raided his homes and should have been disclosed earlier.
“The government’s obstruction allegations were based largely on texts and statements taken out of context,” Shapiro added, further alleging that nearly every witness against Diddy had “a financial motive to fabricate or embellish.”
The government, however, has previously countered that Diddy has engaged in a pattern of witness tampering, including using other inmates’ phone privileges, leveraging social media to influence public opinion and attempting to pay off witnesses.
But Diddy’s legal team insists the government cherry-picked evidence to fit its narrative, claiming that “the misrepresentations and misleading omissions in the warrants are frequent and patterned.”
The court has yet to rule whether it will grant a Franks hearing or suppress evidence obtained from the searches.
If successful, Diddy’s motion could significantly weaken the government’s case ahead of his May 2025 trial.