(NewsNation) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys cited President-elect Donald Trump’s federal criminal case in a letter to a judge expected to rule on Combs’ bail bid request Monday.
In a letter submitted to Judge Arun Subramanian on Friday, the music mogul’s attorneys argued that Combs’ statements on social media and other public venues are protected by the First Amendment and should be evaluated based on the “most demanding scrutiny” as it was in Trump’s presidential immunity case.
“The Court should apply Trump’s heightened standard when considering Mr. Combs’ speech here,” his lawyers wrote.
In Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court considered whether Trump was immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken during his presidency.
Combs’ lawyers argued that the court in Trump’s case found that “only a significant and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice” supports restricting a defendant’s speech. They said this is why Combs has a “greater constitutional claim” than other trial participants to criticize and speak out against the prosecution.
His legal team also mentioned a video posted on Combs’ Instagram account that showed his children calling him while he was in jail and wishing him a happy birthday.
In reference to the birthday post, federal prosecutors argued that the “defendant’s intent could not be clearer: he expressly wanted to interfere with the jury pool in this case through a targeted, public, social media post, and he caused his family members to make the post.”
However, Combs lawyers pushed back in their letter, saying: “The government’s arguments that asking his children to post birthday wishes on Instagram and that he is not entitled to publicly express his opinion that this prosecution is racially motivated are, quite simply, an unconstitutional effort to silence him.”
Combs appeared in court for a pretrial hearing Friday. He has been detained for more than two months after being charged with racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He was denied bail in September when the indictment was unsealed and again earlier in November as the judge deemed him a flight risk due to his money and connections.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges he “led a racketeering conspiracy that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes.”
In addition to criminal charges, Combs is also facing multiple lawsuits from women who say he abused them and forced them to participate in sex acts against their will.
NewsNation’s Steph Whiteside contributed to this story.