The lawyer who is representing Sean "Diddy" Combs' son accused federal agents of leaking the raids' information to the press to "dirty" the potential jury pool amid the embattled rap mogul's legal issues.
Justin Combs' mother, Misa Hylton, confirmed on Instagram that they hired the high-powered criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman to investigate the alleged "excessive use of force" of the federal agents toward her son and Kim Porter's child, Christian Combs. The representative confirmed the development in his podcast and social media posts, and he recently commented on the current issue.
Jeffrey Lichtman Accused Feds of Leaking Information to the Press
On the latest episode of his podcast, "Beyond the Legal Limit," Lichtman alleged the Department of Homeland Security went "overboard" during the searches of Diddy's homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of an ongoing trafficking investigation.
The attorney said the presence of the media "bothered" him the most.
"They were all there, ready to record it," he said on his show. "They were all there, told about it and breathlessly reporting what anonymous agents of law enforcement are telling them about what they're looking for, evidence of s-- trafficking. That's bad because that's just an evil thing for our government or law enforcement to do."
Lichtman previously served as the lawyer for several celebrities, including Fat Joe, Kay Flock and The Game. He also represented John Gotti Jr. and infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
In the video posted by Misa, the matriarch showed Justin and Christian getting cuffed by the federal agents. At one point, a laser can be seen pointing at Justin's chest and back.
"The over zealous and overtly militarized force used against my sons Justin and Christian [King] is deplorable. If these were the sons of a non-Black celebrity, they would not have been handled with the same aggression," part of the caption read.
Federal Agents Reportedly Caused Damage
According to Lichtman, the "damage had already been done" the moment the federal agents used the press to leak what they had been looking for.
"It's clearly written in an effort to get as much publicity as possible, not only for the case, but for the lawyer whose name I don't even remember, literally some maniac," Lichtman continued. "And the feds, the idea that they're taking that stuff as gospel, which it very well may be they are, is almost hard to believe."
Sources said the raids were launched to seize Diddy's phones and computers.
