In a move that seems like something out of a courtroom drama, not real life, Sean "Diddy" Combs is now being accused of offering a jaw-dropping $2 million to a witness to keep her off the stand. The revelation is being made by Gene Deal, Diddy's former bodyguard, who's lifted the lid on the rap mogul's secret life in a no-holds-barred recent interview with The Art of Dialogue.
The hip-hop honcho made the big payment to Gina Huynh, who is "Victim-3" in the feds' sex trafficking case against Diddy, in exchange for her agreement to shut the f–k up, according to Deal. And not just the money. Deal claims she also received perks, including an apartment in Los Angeles, returning to school, and continued personal involvement with Diddy.
"She got that $2 million check from Diddy," Deal said. "Got her in school, gave an apartment out in LA. Still was messing with him. Come on, man. Brainwashed."
Although Huynh has not formally been identified as a witness, her name has been the subject of multiple legal proceedings, and federal prosecutors have recognized the connection in court. Nonetheless, her refusal to appear in court has caught some eyes, particularly because she has reportedly been subpoenaed.
"They're trying to get the prosecution to speed up and bring Huynh in so that Huynh can paint a picture that like everything was consenting or whatever because Huynh's been paid off," Deal said.
In Deal's narrative, Huynh is not an uncooperative witness but a hostile one. But even though she's gone missing physically, he says she's spoken to the federal government and spoken to her attorney, to at least some extent cooperating.
"This is the one who went missing," he said. "But Huynh did speak to the federal government. They do have emails and everything else from her and her lawyer."
The legal debate over Huynh boiled over earlier this month when Diddy's lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said, "Huynh is out of the case." But Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik wasn't buying it, responding that Huynh was "deeply in this case."
Agnifilo didn't deny that the government could still swoop her up. "The government can call Gina if it wants to," he said. It might be difficult, but they are the United States, and they can bring Gina into this courtroom if they want."
Huynh has not yet taken the stand at the trial. With the silence of its star witness, no one, not a skeptical public, not a judge trying his first RICO case, is yet prepared to say whether that $2 million bought her silence and what that says about the case's credibility. Regarding this unfolding legal drama, who's not in the courtroom is just as important as who is.
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