New Releases by Russell Lee

Many wanted the Diddy trial to name the names of freak-off politicians and business titans, dirtied in Diddy''s white parties in the Hamptons. By the end of Week 5 it hasn''t happened. Instead, there have been court order to be sure not to mention the gender of Jane Doe''s child, nor the identity of its father, a well-known rapper who is a rival of Combs. One rapper replied on Instagram then took it down. In the courtroom, Jane Doe''s lawyer told Judge Subramanian she would submit a hit-list of publishers, influencers, maybe podcasts and bloggers, who she said violated his order. Next came Combs'' Teny Geragos, asking Jane about the house in the gated community, now with four broken doors, outside a backyard for her XXXXX - The gender was said, and once typed could not be retracted. But there was the threat. Part of the day was lost; reconstructed By week''s end long stays in the robing room, about Jane''s time in a Las Vegas hotel room at the freaky birthday party of another iconic rapper and his girlfriend or wife, who brought in Anton to perform and stood watching. Then on the last day of Week 5, Kanye West showed up... And at day''s end, a long session in a sealed courtroom. And the final Government witnesses: Judge Subramaian: So finally, who are the Government''s last witnesses? AUSA Comey: Summary witnesses Sankar and two others, personal assistant Brendan Paul, and a law enforcement office. We believe we will close next week So, Week 6 next...

... Uptown word was spreading that the Shoota mighta gone to the dark side. The news didn''t come through the lawyer Lorenzo, who should have told Candido. Lorenzo was getting paid to know the court system and not let stuff like this happen. No, one of their sources, a Bronx Dominion associate who had even gotten the tattoo but still didn''t have a turf, had seen when the Shoota was put into the SHU. He used a cell phone, illegal in the MCC, to call Candido. "This a recorded call?" Candido asked. "Nah, I bought the phone off a guard. I seen your boy Shoota in here. They put him in the SHU but he ain''t fought nobody. So, you know...." Candido knew. Now, what to do about it?

For the arrival at the Diddy trial of his nemesis Scott Mescudi, whose Porsche was burned up in Los Angeles, Homeland Security officers and US Marshals stood out on Worth Street. Upstairs before the jurors came in, the talk of Kid Cudi''s dog. There was some laughter, as there had been earlier in Week 2 when the male dancer known as The Punisher used the trial to promote his e.d. book, with "Freezer Meat" in the title. Trying to keep up, between references to Prince''s party to Tesla and Obama''s face imprinted onto drugs was not easy. But this was US v. Sean Combs and I''d covering it since the night before the arrest and indictment. So I''d push forward, including pushing to get more of the filings in the case put into the public docket. * * * Amid the Diddy hoopla and some asking to see the freak-off videos, if only as a pool, his now-ten lawyers and the prosecutors are both refusing to make public their filings to the court. But they are judicial documents. Inner City Press filed: "This morning before the jury came in, both the Government and the defense referred to multiple communications to the Court about evidentiary and other issues. But these are not in the public docket on PACER. "This application / letter motion argues that many if not all of these are judicial documents to which the public and press have a right of access. They should be put in the docket, now and going forward in this trial." Dkt. 336. And Judge Subramanian agrees - three times. But let''s see what Week 3 of the trial brings...

When the jury sent out a note on the afternoon of July 1 in US v. Sean Combs, many wondered if it would be another request for testimony, as the jury had asked about Cassie Ventura in the morning. Or perhaps another complaint about not following Judge Subramanian''s instructions, as Juror 25 had been complained about on June 30. But soon Sean Combs, whispered to by his lawyer, was sitting near catatonic at the defense table, staring into space. Judge Subramanian came out and recounted that the jury had reached verdicts on counts 2 through 5, but not on Count 1, racketeering conspiracy. On that, there were "unpersuadable opinions on both sides." There was discussion of giving a so-called Allen charge, to go back and try again; finally it was decided to send the jurors home with the instruction they come in on July 2 at 9 am and continue deliberating on Count 1. And what might that consist of? They had already asked, on their first day of deliberations, for the law about drug distribution, one of the RICO predicates. Might they ask about the other possible predicates, from arson to kidnapping to obstruction of justice to, yes, sex trafficking? Logically, if they had reached a guilty verdict on sex trafficking, at least as to Cassie Ventura if not the witness known as Jane, the RICO question would be whether others had conspired with Combs for that sex trafficking. His travel agent made travel arrangements; his security had kept her in a hotel room so that no one would see her swollen face after he beat here (that was one of two California kidnapping alleged). Why had the said there were "unpersuadable opinions" against the RICO charge, without even asking for evidence about those predicates? Having covering the case since Combs'' arrest and presentment, I was asked to go on a true crime podcast on the night of July 1. What could I say? It would be irresponsible to claim to know what the four verdicts were. But one of them? Instead I focused on how Combs reacted, or seemed to react, staring into space. Diddy Do It? Well, two of five, according to the jury… And bail would be denied, but expedited sentencing offered - the story, blow by blow, is here. Book 9 about the sentencing is not before.

After the evidence closed in US v Sean Combs, each side presented it the jury, each on their down day. On June 26, Day 21 of the trial, Assistant US Attorney Slavik emphasized just how easy it is to convict under RICO: only two of the many predicate acts presented, and both can be in the same category. She presented a menu, from sex trafficking to arson, kidnapping to obstruction, drugs to bribery. On June 27 Comb''s lead counsel Marc Agnifilo said Sean inspired people, that Mia loved him and lied about being raped - as, he said, did Cassie. That he called a love story, telling the jurors they would cry in deliberations if they read, really read, text message before the two. Then he read some raunchy ones, apologizing theatrically to his mother. There remained an insistence on anonymity for Jane and for Mia, despite the defense having played a video with her face unredacted. The threats for reporting on them remained hanging over the trial; it remained unclear if Jane''s lawyer even did submit the hit-list she said she would. Still things were coming to a close; the jurors would have three days to deliberate, even four if they came in on July 3. Inner City Press will publish Week 8 with whatever notes and answers, and with the final verdict. Diddy Do It? Soon the jury will speak.

The Diddy Trial Begins Sean Combs is dressed up in a sweater and has nine lawyers. Cassie Ventura is eight and a half months pregnant, sitting in the witness box, being asked to read her own text messages setting up freak offs, many with an escort named Jules. Videos are shown to the jurors, who wear headphones, but not to the public or the press. Likewise, both sides lawyers talk about filings to Judge Arun Subramanian that are nowhere to be found in the public docket on PACER. I have been covering the case since the indictment. In fact, I reported the presentment the night before it happened. But now the trial has taken over the courthouse, and both sides of Worth Street out in front of it. It is troubling that there is no other way. I file a challenge to the confidentiality, first by email to the judge and parties, then into the docket. And I live tweet as fast as I can, and respond to as many question as possible. Some other accounts simply steal the tweets; one site spoofs mine and bring Nicki Minaj into the mix. (As I''m requested, I sent out a clarifying tweet, but decline to sue. Have I told you I don''t like lawsuit? Even as I appeal sealing in the OneCoin crypto case to the Second Circuit). After my second book about the Diddy case was blocked on one platform, I moved the second to another platform, which now also has this third, which covers week one. What will come next? Watch Inner City Press.

The first day of the fourth week of Sean Combs trial featured the defense putting up as an exhibit a video of pseudonymous victim-witness "Mia" sending a birthday greeting to Combs. It was shown with Mia''s face entirely visible; it was presented as having been entered into evidence. It was then, and only then, linked to. Then in open court:: Assistant US Attorney: ... media outlet reporting Mia''s true identity. We''ll send that to the Court. It was reported on X yesterday with reference to the birthday video exhibit that was admitted, containing a link to that exhibit online showing that witness''s true identity. THE COURT: I''m happy to hear if there is any step that you''d like the Court to take. AUSA: The government would respectfully request that the Court consider directing that outlet to remove the post and consider whether any further additional steps should be taken, such as barring individuals who break the Court''s order from attending this trial either in this courtroom or in other courtrooms. THE COURT: Do you want to put in a submission along those lines? I''ll certainly consider it. AUSA: Sure, we can. THE COURT: I''ll do that Do what? It has been committed that such a submission has not been / will not be made. And then, voluntary compliance. But this? In the fifth day of the fourth week of Sean Combs'' trial, counsel to pseudonymous witness "Jane" spoke in order court of identifying those seeking to identify here client - in a letter she would submit ex parte to the judge, seeking sanctions without providing any notice or opportunity to be heard. Some were quick to justify this by saying if the outlets were named, it would only amplify them. But at what point does the gap between what is out there, and what is and can be reported from inside, because too wide, a credibility gap? Perhaps we will find out in week five. And that, closing and deliberations. This series will continue.

For a public trial of a global icon, there are too many threats for reporting what actually happens. During the testimony of an anonymous witness given the name "Mia," they showed on the public screen to the gallery a video of her wishing Sean Combs a happy birthday. Her face was entirely visible, not blurred. So Inner City Press, live-tweeting, noted it, linking to the exact video publicly available on YouTube. The next day the prosecutor said a publication on X had violated the rules and she wanted Judge Arun Subramanian to order it taken down, and those responsible barred from the courtroom and even other courtrooms. The judge didn''t say No, as we should. Instead he said, write me a letter. Would that even be in the public docket? In Week 1 of the trial Inner City Press filed an application that everything go into the docket, and not on the long delay that had been the case so far. Judge Subramanian responded with an order that each side could be in their submission, no in real time, but at the end of the week. Inner City Press wrote and tweeted about the flaws with that. Judge Subramanian issued a second order, that the rules applicable to all other trials and cases did in fact apply here: real time docketing, with redactions if necessary. But it hasn''t happened. Next came the anonymous witness named Jane, whose identity was widely known or became so once she described the father of her child as a well-known rapper who is a rival of Combs. But when defense lawyer Teny Geragos asked "Jane" if the house in the LA gated community had a yard for her son, Jane said, You should say "my child." Inner City Press, live tweeting testimony actually said in court, had written "son." Now there were the semi-sealed issues of the jurors. Juror 6, whose voir dire Inner City Press had live tweeted (prison staffer, hip hop fan) was now the subject of sealed questioning. Another juror was questioned, but this was not supposed to be reported. It was. On June 17 at 8:15 am - before the 8:30 am starting time used for weeks - Judge Subramanian denounced the publication and leak, saying he would investigate including, if it came to it, seizing and reviewing cell phones. With a warrant? Cell phones of reporters? It was not clear. And so it is, reporting on US v. Sean Combs. There is a growing credibility gap between reporters full time in the courthouse and what they are being allowed to report, and what others online can and do say. As Week Six of the US v. Sean Combs trial ended, the end drew near, with Combs'' lawyer Agnifilo saying the defense will be only one or two days. Unlike for example Sam Bankman-Fried, with whom Combs conferred in the MDC, Combs would not testify on his own behalf. While Brian Steel managed to turn Brendan "I am not a drug mule" Paul into a defense witness, as least in part, rather like Derek Ferguson, the charts about company arranged and paid travel across state lines to freak-offs, which in some cases led to violence / coercion continued to accumulate. Would it be enough for a RICO conviction - one that would stand up on appeal? If not pardon were forthcoming? Inner City Press will stay on the case - through books on Week 7 and Week 8 - and beyond.

In the Sean Combs trial''s third week, some came to be seen and came to be heard but not seen, certainly not portrayed. We were told to call her Mia. But the prosecutors elicited from her which Combs Enterprises entity she co-founded and knowing her name was not difficult. But we did not report it. Her story, haltingly told, was depressing. She had wanted to be arts and was soon in a cult or work-farm, kept awake for five days straight, told not to leave Combs'' house, to not lock the door to the bedroom. He came in and raped her. It happened again on a jet plane. What could Brian Steel do with this? One imagined them focused on the RICO charge, saying it hadn''t been made out, no matter the involvement of D-Roc and Uncle Paulie, and those who swept the hotel room. Capricorn Clark was questioned with a lie detector for five days in an empty office on Broadway, threatened with be thrown in the East River. But still she went back, the defense pointed out. Still she came back and asked for job. Reference was made to an autistic son. It was depressing. Deonte Nash called Maurene Comey "Girl;" he came in on high platformed shoes and talked over Xavier Donaldson''s questions. He had appeared for one of his trial-prep sessions with Maurene while flying high, memorialized in the 3500. But what about Mia? That question echoes, as through an empty office building on Broadway. Rikers Island faced the East River; the MDC faces the harbor. This case is Federal. Then Combs'' Steel asked again and again about gushing Instagram posts she read out in a troublingly chipper voice. People didn''t post their low points back then, she said. And now? At week''s end, as Mia was cross examined about posts in which her face was blurred, Trump was asked about, and dodged on, a possible pardon for Combs. See last entry in this book.