Diddy's lawyers have filed a new motion looking to dismiss one of the three federal racketeering charges he's facing because they think it's racially charged.
On Tuesday, Diddy's counsel submitted the memorandum that is looking to erase the federal charge that claims he violated the Mann Act, which prevents trafficking across state lines for prostitution services. The federal indictment that was unsealed last year accuses Diddy of hiring escorts and bringing them across state lines for sexual services.
According to Diddy's legal team, prosecuting Diddy under the Mann Act is racist because he's being targeted for being a successful black man who did something that usually gets swept under the rug.
"This case is unprecedented in many ways, but perhaps most notably, and most disturbingly, no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution," Diddy's lawyers wrote in the filing. "There has never been a similar RICO prosecution [...] no other person, and certainly no white person has ever previously been prosecuted under the White-Slave Traffic Act for hiring male escorts from another State."
The filing continued, "Mr. Combs has been singled out because he is a powerful black man, and he is being prosecuted for conduct that regularly goes unpunished [...] What was racist in its inception has often been racist in its operation."
The Mann Act used to be called the White-Slave Traffic Act and was established in 1910 to ban the transportation of women for prostitution or other corrupt purposes. Diddy's lawyers argued the historical significance of the act has always been to "target Black men and supposedly protect white women from them."
They also added that the government is attempting to stir up a criminal case based on "allegations" that the music executive and two "longtime girlfriends" invited a third party into the sexual encounters. They also used former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was caught up in a mess of his own, as an example of how Diddy was being targeted.
"High-profile white men, including former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, have engaged in similar conduct but were never charged under the Act," read the filing. "Many couples, including wealthy high-profile couples, involve third parties in their sexual relationships, sometimes for implicit or explicit remuneration."
Diddy is currently in custody at a federal correctional facility in Brooklyn, N.Y., and awaiting trial, which is set to begin in May. He has since pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence.
