It’s unlikely that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will make it home for Thanksgiving. As he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, and faces more than 120 allegations of sexual assault and abuse over a 30-year period, Combs has allegedly been making ‘relentless’ efforts to escape prison. His third appeal for bail has been delayed.

He was arrested on 16 September following a police investigation and is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn – a notoriously dangerous, understaffed and unhygienic facility with former inmates including R. Kelly and Ghislaine Maxwell. He denies all charges and plans to plead not guilty in court.

On 25 November, Combs appeared in court as his legal team proposed a $50m bail package, which would see the music mogul under house arrest in his Florida mansion with 24-hour security. The judge concluded, ‘That’s not going to work.’

In the weeks before his bail hearing, Combs allegedly broke prison rules by using the phone accounts of at least eight other inmates to contact potential witnesses. He allegedly paid off one witness after calling and texting her 128 times over a four-day period.

He also allegedly orchestrated social media posts with the help of his children – including a birthday video where Combs can be heard thanking them for their support in the background – to influence potential jury members and has been monitoring the analytics from jail.

As such, the prosecution argued that granting bail would pose significant risk. ‘The defendant has demonstrated an uncanny ability to get others to do his bidding – employees, family members and [prison] inmates alike,’ they said. ‘There is no reason to believe that private security personnel would be immune.’

As his chances of bail look increasingly slim, at least for now, Combs’ team appear to be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at his defence. Most recently, they have drawn parallels between Combs’ legal situation and that of president-elect Donald Trump.

After being accused of attempting to influence witnesses and jurors from jail, the rapper’s lawyers have said he should be afforded the same free speech rights as Trump.
They argue that given his profile he has a ‘greater constitutional claim than other trial participants to speak out against the prosecution and the criminal trial process that seek to take away his liberty’. The filing continued, ‘the Court should apply Trump’s heightened standard when considering Mr Combs’ speech here.’

Combs’ lawyer, Mark Agnifilo, also told TMZ in a televised interview that the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, is working on ‘the takedown of a successful Black man’.

‘He has a right to a fair trial and a constitutional right to speak out on his own behalf,’ read their letter to the judge. ‘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.’

It’s worth remembering the gravity of the charges Combs faces, including ‘violent gang rape’, date rape drugging, physical abuse and the sex trafficking of minors. In one lawsuit, Combs is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy.

In another turn of events, Tony Buzbee, the lawyer who represents more than 100 claimants with allegations against Combs, is now facing allegations of his own. One of Buzbee’s former clients is suing him for allegedly pushing a champagne flute into her face in a ‘fit of rage’ during her divorce proceedings – allegations that Buzbee denies. ‘Tony Buzbee is a hypocrite,’ said the plaintiff’s lawyer, Jeremy Bohrer. ‘There is nothing worse than when a black hat masquerades as a white hat.’

While another ‘high-profile’ client has accused him of extortion and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit alleges that Buzbee unleashes ‘entirely fabricated and malicious allegations of sexual assault’ as a threat. Buzbee denied all allegations and called it a coordinated attack by a rival law firm.

‘Here is what I know,’ Buzbee said in a statement, ‘I’ve been sued twice now so far, and it’s being coordinated by a law firm from New York who reps a celebrity who I sent a demand letter to. The coordinated cases filed against me are frivolous and are an attempt to scare my clients. I also intend to expose the law firm and that firm’s client who is behind this effort.’

He continued, ‘I won’t let my clients be silenced by bullying tactics. I’m surprised you would be a pawn in this scheme by even giving any effort any air play.’

Whether any nefarious tactics are being deployed is unclear, but this is clearly an unpredictable case. Attorney Williams, for one, announced his resignation on Monday which is effective from 13 December. Trump has already nominated his replacement, the former securities and exchange commission chairman Jay Clayton.

‘Today is a bittersweet day for me,’ Williams said in a statement. ‘It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job, leading an institution I love that is filled with the finest public servants in the world. It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the Office is functioning at an incredibly high level.’

Williams’ exit comes at a pivotal time in the Combs’ trial, which is due to take place in May next year. His resignation has reportedly sent ripples through legal and political circles and could certainly introduce complications as the trial date looms.