Welcome back to the unfolding saga of United States v. Combs. Here is your day-by-day summary of court proceedings for the sixth week of the trial (June 16–June 20, 2025).
Recaps of individual days of the trial can be found in the Rumble Playlist, weekly recaps are here on Substack.
Massive thanks and credit to Inner City Press for covering the trial live from the courtroom. His threads are the next best thing to having the actual transcript in hand.
For anyone not interested in this trial, no worries; I have a new episode of the Just Human Podcast here and another on the way next week.
Reminder of the Charges and Allegations:
Combs faces five counts: racketeering conspiracy (life max), two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion (life max, 15-year min each), and two counts of transportation for prostitution (10-year max each).
The prosecution alleges Combs ran a criminal enterprise, orchestrating “freak offs” (coerced sexual performances), abusing women (e.g., Ventura, Jane, others), and using blackmail, drugs, and violence. Evidence includes the 2016 Ventura assault video and 1,000+ bottles of baby oil seized in 2024 raids.
The defense argues all acts were consensual, framing the case as domestic disputes within a “swinger” lifestyle, not trafficking.
I did an explainer on the RICO charges in the middle part of the Friday portion of this week’s coverage.
Breakdowns and timestamps for each day:
Monday, June 16—Day 24
00:00:00-0:29:00
Witness Testimony:
Ananya Sankar, a paralegal specialist at the US Attorney's Office
Notable Moments:
Testified as to the accuracy of two summary charts having to do with messages and audio recordings between Combs, victims, his staff, sex workers, etc.
Special Agent DeLeassa Penland of Homeland Security Investigations
Notable Moments:
Testified as to the accuracy of summary chart(s) having to do with messages, flights, financial records, and meetings between Combs, victims, his staff, sex workers, etc.
Tuesday, June 17—Day 25
00:29:00-01:00:00
Witness Testimony:
Special Agent DeLeassa Penland (continued)
Notable Moments:
Testified as to the accuracy of summary chart(s) having to do with messages, flights, financial records, and meetings between Combs, victims, his staff, sex workers, etc.
Wednesday, June 18—Day 26
01:00:00-1:15:00
Witness Testimony:
Proceedings cancelled due to juror issue.
Thursday, June 19—Federal Holiday, no court.
Friday, June 20—Day 27
01:15:00-End
Witness Testimony:
Brendan Paul, drug mule and assistant to Sean Combs
Notable Moments:
Testified to drug transactions, cleaning up after “Freak Offs” aka “Wild King Nights” aka “Hotel Nights.”
Special Agent Joseph Cerciello, of Homeland Security Investigations
Notable Moments:
Testified as to the accuracy of summary chart(s) having to do with messages, financial records, and meetings between Combs, victims, his staff, sex workers, etc.
That’s it for this recap. Prosecution should rest on Monday or Tuesday of Week 7, and then Defense will only need a couple of days to present their case in chief. So this thing may go to the jury by the end of Week 7.
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