Welcome back to the unfolding saga of United States v. Combs. Here is your day-by-day summary of court proceedings for the fourth week of the trial (June 2–June 6, 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 on the way.
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), 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.
Breakdowns and timestamps for each day:
Monday, June 2—Day 14
00:00-1:19:00
* Witness Testimony:
* Cross of Mia continued—FVictim-4, ex-personal assistant to Combs, Revolt Films, other projects
* Notable Moments:
* Combs’ Steel cross-examined Mia aggressively, pressing her on the timeline of events, why she continued working for Combs’, why she sent positive messages to him, and why she never reported the abuse.
* Steel asked Mia if she was lying (which is an important question here). Is Diddy lying or are these accusers?
* Steel also asked if all of this was a “MeToo money grab.”
* Steel was able to introduce the “Happy Birthday Video” that Mia sent Diddy.
* Steel used Mia’s social media post, which showed her at gatherings with friends and seemingly living a normal life while all of these reported abuses were going on and she was being “traumatized” by Combs. Mia responded, “Instagram was a place to show how great your life was, even if it was not.”
* Steel may have erred, though, in asking about “brainwashing,” her therapy notes, and why Mia stayed in the employ of Combs after suffering abuse by him. Link to filing here.
* Oken, employee at The Beverly Hill Hotel
* Notable Moments:
* Confirmed Combs’ aliases in their booking system and stay in Room 259 during the assault that is on video.
Tuesday, June 3—Day 15
1:19:00-2:00:00
* Witness Testimony:
* Eddy Garcia—security guard at The Inter-Continental Hotel. Is testifying under a subpoena and has an immunity agreement.
* Notable Moments:
* Was contacted by Kristina Khorram (KK) and Sean Combs about getting (removing from the servers and providing to Combs) the video of Combs assaulting Ventura in the elevator bay area of the hotel.
* After several contacts, Garcia contacted his supervisor, Bill Medrano, about doing this. Medrano agreed to do it for $50k
* Combs called Garcia Eddy My Angel. When devices were seized as part of the investigation into Combs, there was a contact in a phone belonging to Kristina Khorram saved under the name “Eddy My Angel.”
* Garcia testified that he met Combs and other members of his entourage in an LA building where he provided a copy of the video on a USB drive and was handed $100k cash as payment.
* Garcia and Medrano felt Israel Flores, the guard who responded to the incident and previously testified, would not be agreeable to this exchange, so they misrepresented to Combs that the responding guard’s name was Henry Elias.
* Combs also had Cassie FaceTime them during this meeting.
* Garcia had to sign an NDA regarding this matter and prosecutors entered a copy of it into evidence, along with a copy of the hotel video, emails between Garcia, other exhibits as well.
* $50k went to Medrano, $30k to Garcia, $20k to Elias.
* Derek Ferguson— worked for Combs as CFO 1998-2017
* Notable Moments:
* Described the business structure of Combs Enterprises
* Described how Combs would withdraw and transfer money, obtain cash, hotel bookings, travel, etc.
* Verified a financial document showing a $20k transfer to Cassie and later a $20k payment from Cassie Ventura’s father, confirming previous testimony that her family had to take out a $20k loan to pay Combs back. Combs threatened that if they did not, he would release sex tapes of their daughter.
* He testified that he never witnessed Combs commit crimes.
* There was an awkward moment at the end of cross-examination.
Wednesday, June 4—Day 16
2:00:00-2:54:00
* Witness Testimony:
* Frank Piazza—works for Legal Audio and Video
* Notable Moments:
* Discussed analyzing the hotel video of Combs assaulting Ventura
* Described/explained the anomalies and errors in it (ghost images, timestamps being off, skipped frames) but ultimately confirmed that the video is true and accurate.
* Explained enhancing the audio of other videos (sexually explicit) that were entered into evidence.
* Bryana Bongolan aka Bana—fashion designer, friend of Cassie Ventura. Is testifying under a subpoena and has an immunity agreement.
* Notable Moments:
* Testified that she saw Cassie with a black eye, other injuries, that she believed Combs had given her
* Witnessed Combs throw a knife at Cassie
* Testified that Combs threatened her, saying, “I could kill you.”
* She testified that she was assaulted by Combs, lifted up, and held over a balcony railing on the 17th floor of a building. Was injured (bruised) by the incident. Took photos of the injuries, which were entered into evidence. Bana says this incident occurred Sept 26, 2016, at Cassie’s apartment in LA.
* Bana got lots of drugs for Cassie and they used lots of drugs together.
* Bana went sober on Jan 2, 2018, and got a tattoo of the date to remind her.
* Later hired attorney Tyrone Blackburn and sued Combs for $10 million. This is the same lawyer who represented Rodney Jones in his 2023 civil RICO lawsuit against Sean Combs. Bangolan later fired Blackburn.
* Testified that Cassie got details of the balcony incident incorrect in her lawsuit and Bangolan contacted her to correct them.
* Defense pressed Bangolan hard on that incident, showing that Combs was in NYC at Trump International on the date Bangolan says the incident happened.
* Bangolan repeatedly said “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” as she was crossed.
Thursday, June 5—Day 17
2:54:00-3:40:00
* Witness Testimony:
* Cross of Bongolan continued.
* Notable Moments:
* Bongolan seemed to fall apart on cross while being questioned about her previous attorney’s claims.
* Shortly after Bongolan left the stand, Combs was admonished by Judge Subramania
* Enrique Santos—works for SDNY
* Notable Moments:
* Extracted data from three cell phones belonging to Cassie Ventura
* Jane Doe—Model, influencer, Victim-2 from the indictment, was in a relationship with Combs from 2021-2024
* Notable Moments
* Testified that she traveled to multiple locations (Miami, NYC, LA, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas) either with Combs or to Combs to engage in what she called “hotel nights.”
* She was paid $10k per month as part of what they called a “love contract.” Combs also paid for her travel and other items, and paid the rent for her home (AND STILL DOES!?!)
* Testified that drugs were always invovled
* Combs would record the “hotel nights” which were basically the “freak-offs” that have been described before. They would last 20-30hrs.
* Sex workers and porn actors were selected by her and Combs to participate in these events.
* When she refused to engage in these “hotel nights,” Combs would become irritated and would remind her of what he paid for. Said that she felt “obligated” to do what Combs wanted.
* Combs increasingly took control of her life, she had to always be ready for when he wanted a “hotel night”
Friday, June 6—Day 18
3:40:00-End
* Witness Testimony:
* Jane Doe continued
* Notable Moments:
* Testified to transporting drugs for Combs, contacting sex workers and arranging for the “hotel nights”
* Was able to identify many but not all of the sex workers and porn actors
* Combs had her get piercings and a new set of teeth.
* Verified messages about these arrangements.
* Her description of these events, the setup, Combs behavior, etc, all matches up with what Cassie Ventura previously testifed to.
* Said that she would “turn into another person” during these “hotel nights.” Sounds a lot like disassociating in order to get through it.
* Explicit exhibits were shown to the jury during her testimony.
* Voicemails Combs left Jane were played during her testimony.
* She provided photographs of the “hotel night” setups (candles, lights, oils, etc).
* Jane Doe took notes on her phone, kind of like a journal. Some of the notes she would send as messages to Combs and some not. They are entered into evidence.
* Jane would resist or say ‘No’ to the hotel nights, Combs would get angry or agree that to a sort of normal date night, but then set one up anyway.
That’s it for this recap.
Sincere thanks to everyone liking, sharing, and supporting this work. I’m learning a lot, but this is the week that I lost some enthusiasm for this trial. It feels dirty, well outside my interests, and like I’m covering a trial for TMZ. That feeling isn’t surprising, and I’m not quitting—I want to see it through—but I’m eager to work on something else and for this trial to end.
In the coming days, I’ll release a video or two on topics other than the Diddy trial. I also plan to reorient my approach to this trial by focusing more on the RICO aspects and mechanics of it while ignoring the gossipy celebrity nonsense. That should help.
Looking ahead, I’m considering another trial for a future project—one that’s already happened, with available transcripts. The one I have in mind didn’t get much attention at the time, involves no celebrities, but centers on espionage, national security, and the CIA. I envision presenting it as a podcast series, trimming the dull parts and highlighting key moments while narrating the case and trial. The format and back-end practices I have adopted in presenting this current trial are informing how I will present the next one.
Just Human is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Support links:
Coffee—click here.
Just Human Merch—click here.
Benson’s Honey Farm affiliate link: click here.
Bootleg Products affiliate link: click here.
Manly Cans affiliate link—click here.
To find all of my links in one place, click here.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit justhuman.substack.com/subscribe
