Today was all about the money, in the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. An Intercontinental Hotel employee testified that Combs paid him $100,000 in cash to hand over the video of Diddy attacking Cassie. Eddy Garcia told the courtroom that the mogul called him “Eddy, my Angel.” Also, longtime Combs’ Enterprises Chief of Finance explained to the jury how business was conducted in the company. Analysis of witness testimony from Brian Buckmire and others on "Burden of Proof: The Case Against Diddy" which streams weekdays at 5:30PM Eastern on ABC News Live. Find it on Disney+, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened in the Sean Diddy Combs trial today?
We also heard from Combs' former chief financial officer who explained his business. Combs has denied all allegations in this case. There is a lot to get to, including a notable witness we expect to testify tomorrow. Also coming up, the former NYPD detective known as the Hip Hop Cop. He investigated the murders of rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
Chapter 2: Who testified about the $100,000 payment?
He joins us in studio to give us a glimpse into the world of hip hop then. and now. But we begin with ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Erin Koturski live outside the federal courthouse here in Manhattan. And Erin, that 2016 video of Combs attacking Cassie Ventura in the hotel back in the spotlight today, what did we learn about it?
We learned that Sean Combs paid $100,000 to keep it from being seen. And we heard this extraordinary yarn from a hotel security guard named Eddie Garcia, who said at first he knew that there was a domestic dispute. Then he saw the video. And then he took repeated phone calls from Sean Combs' assistant, Christina Karam, asking to see it, asking if she could have it.
And the first few times, he said, no, you'd have to talk to the manager or file a subpoena. And then Christina Karam, Eddie Garcia said, put Sean Combs on the phone. And Combs, according to Garcia's testimony, told him, I'll take care of you. And arrangements were made, and he finally takes this thumb drive containing the video to an apartment or room where Sean Combs was.
Chapter 3: What did Eddie Garcia reveal about Sean Combs' actions?
He remembered being greeted, Eddie, my angel. And Sean Combs pulling out a brown paper bag and a bill counter and putting $10,000 stacks of cash through the machine before handing it over. Garcia said Combs asked him, do you want to count it? And Eddie Garcia said, I trust the machine.
We also know that Combs' mother and some of his other family members were in court today. What was their response to what they saw and heard?
Well, they'd seen the video before, so when the jury saw it again, I don't think it was much of a shock or a surprise to see the actual video. And then to hear the yarn, I mean, I think captivated everybody in the courtroom. There's Eddie Garcia talking about making the arrangements with his boss at first. The boss said, all right, we'll do it for $50,000.
But then there came the non-disclosure agreement and the promise that this was the only copy. And eventually he walks away with $100,000 after turning over his ID and the ID of two others who were part of the security team. And a couple of weeks later, Eddie Garcia gets a message from Sean Combs wishing him a happy Easter and wondering if there was anyone out there asking about the tape.
Combs' former CFO also took the stand today. What did he say about Combs' business dealings?
Derek Ferguson was called by federal prosecutors, I think, to help walk them through all of the money that Sean Combs had at his disposal and then how some of it worked, including how they handled cash, like, say, $100,000 to pay for video. and how they handled reimbursements on corporate credit cards.
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Chapter 4: How did Combs' former CFO describe the business operations?
Because remember, Eva, a number of assistants testified they would buy supplies for the freak-offs with their corporate card and then get reimbursed. But Derek Ferguson also said one other critical thing. He talked about wire transfers from 2011 of $20,000. And that's a payment that Cassie Ventura's mother said Sean Combs demanded to recoup money that he had spent on Cassie Ventura.
Combs remember was upset that Ventura began dating rapper Kid Cudi. The jury saw the wire transfers, the $20,000 in from Cassie Ventura's dad and it being returned four days later.
Ferguson worked for Combs for some 20 years. Did the two have any interactions in court today?
They did. Sean Combs seemed to nod and smile at him. And maybe Derek Ferguson gave him a bit of a tentative hello back. But he worked for the defense also because, in effect, they were able to launder Combs' image through the pedigree of Derek Ferguson. Went to Stuyvesant High School, grew up in the Bronx, Harvard Business School.
Chapter 5: What were the implications of the wire transfers mentioned?
And the impression the defense was hoping to leave the jury was here's a legitimate businessman protecting Combs from any shenanigans that the federal prosecutors might be talking about as a criminal enterprise.
Also, I have to ask you, Aaron, we heard there may have been some sort of outburst in the courtroom this morning. What happened?
Yeah, this was before any testimony got underway. There's been a woman kind of loitering outside, heckling a number of the reporters. And then she's gotten inside a couple of times. And in court, she began to just make a scene. She started yelling about the treatment of Sean Combs. And eventually, court security officers took, I think, three of them to lead her from the room.
And Sean Combs saw the whole thing.
Aaron Katursky for us there at the Federal Courthouse. Aaron, thank you so much. Now to break down today's testimony, let's bring in ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmeyer. Brian, you were there in court today. What stood out to you about everything that you heard?
I mean, other than I think Aaron called them shenanigans about what happened in the beginning, what stood out to me was just Eddie Garcia's testimony, walking us through this very riveting piece of testimony that almost was reminiscent of Kid Cudi talking about that Marvel supervillain, of Sean Combs allegedly in the room with a brown paper bag,
counting money, $10,000 at a time, and just the whole kind of story of it all, of hearing how this all worked out. And the defense didn't necessarily push back on that narrative, but focused instead on other errors in the cross-examination. But that was very riveting to listen to how this video didn't make it to the light of day until some years later.
Eddie Garcia was granted immunity ahead of his testimony. This is the second time we've seen this in this trial. What did he say that he needed immunity from?
I mean, just really quickly, accepting bribes, tax evasion, obstruction. This is an individual who is testifying very truthfully, at least if you believe his testimony, and it came off pretty credible, that he accepted $100,000 from Sean Combs. 50 of it went to his manager, 20 went to another associate of his, and then 30 went to him, and then he took that money and bought a used vehicle with it.
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Chapter 6: What role did Christina Corum play in the case?
mother testified that she had taken a bank equity loan to pay Sean Combs. And then on December 27th, four days later, we have a return of funds, money being transferred from an account that belongs to Sean Combs out of that account. That I think connects with the allegations earlier on. Don't forget this money movement.
There are five charges that Sean Combs is facing, the top one being racketeering conspiracy. And when we talk about the activities within this enterprise, this is what the government is trying to argue is this criminal enterprise, this movement of money that is disguised as legitimate business deals, but is a courting effort by multiple people to repeatedly earn a profit.
And later this week, we're expecting to hear from a witness who's going to be going by the pseudonym Jane. They are going to take the stand. Do we have any idea what she's going to say?
Jane is expected to be potentially the last alleged victim to testify, because we've heard that victim number three may not come forward. We heard some of the potential testimony from the opening statements. Jane, very similar to Cassie, dated Sean Cosgrove 2020 to 2024, same allegations of drug use, freak-offs, and forced fraud and coercion.
all right ryan buckmeyer thank you so much still ahead the hotel employee on the stand today telling the jury the linked sean combs allegedly went to trying to get that infamous video of the music mogul assaulting cassie ventura also coming up the so-called hip-hop cop takes us back to the 90s and inside one of the rap rivalries that has helped define hip-hop
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Chapter 7: What was the courtroom atmosphere during the testimonies?
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Welcome back to ABC News Live. Another day of testimony in the Sean Diddy Combs trial. On the stand today, an employee at the Intercontinental Hotel and the former chief financial officer of Combs Enterprises. Time now to examine the key legal strategies that we saw playing out in court today. We have Brian Buckmeyer playing the defense, Bernardo Villalona playing prosecutor.
Bernardo, we're gonna start with you. We gotta talk about that video, the 2016 hotel video. Today we learned how Combs allegedly was able to get it What do you think of it all?
Eva, today was pure bombshells. I mean, when I talk about riveting testimony, inside of that courtroom you can hear a pin drop when Eddie Garcia was actually testifying. I think what shocked us the most, and I think what did Diddy in,
was the fact that it was sean combs who directly called the security guy to try to get that video not just one time not just two times but multiple times and then to take it a step further he's the one who meets with the security guy and actually gets the usb from him and actually he's the one who gives the money to this security guy so before we were thinking oh it's probably one of sean combs uh employees or maybe it was security that works for him or maybe kk
No, Sean Combs was directly involved in arranging for this payoff and to get that thumb drive. And he knew what was going on was actually wrong. Brian?
I mean, how did he know what was going on was wrong?
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Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes of the trial?
Because a celebrity, if his dirty drawers are outside on the street, that could destroy his reputation.
So if that's the case, then get your other people to do it. Get legal to do it. Get your security to do it. Your chief of staff to do it. But he said, this is so important to me that I am going to handle this.
He's a control freak. And I think the other thing the defense is raising, too, is in the NDA, I think it's a bit of a stretch, but an argument nonetheless. You'll see who's going to bite. Is that in the NDA, the only argument, is this about bribing a witness?
And what they're saying is the NDA does not inhibit the person from testifying in front of the jury, testifying in front of the government, testifying if the law enforcement asked.
Yeah, but the crime was already done before they even signed the NDA because he got into conversations with them and says, look, I need to get that tape. I need to make sure it is the only copy. It cannot get out there. But it wasn't the only copy. Well, he thought it was the only copy. That's the issue. He thought it was the only copy. Had it been the only copy, we wouldn't be here today.
Okay, so one of the other points that the defense raised was that police didn't come to the hotel, that Garcia said he spoke to Cassie about it all. And he said she told him, quote, she had a movie coming out and it wasn't a good time for this to come out and she wanted it to go away. Bernard, are her not appearing to want to report this? Does that factor at all in here?
So it does factor into it. But remember, we had the testimony, the prosecution put on that expert, Dr. Hughes, to testify about why a person who's been a victim of domestic violence, been a victim of being beaten by their partner.
why they wouldn't want to come forward and to cooperate, that it takes many times before they finally report it or actually decide that they want to leave this relationship. And in the end, regardless whether she wanted to report it or not, because we have that visual that everyone has seen of Sean Combs beating her, there's no way around it. Brian, you're being so quiet today.
I'm trying my best. Because all this is is, yes, is that the application of it? Sure. But also, she is a celebrity in her own right as well. Does she want this press out there? There's also the aspect of Sean Combs is protecting not only his image, he's also protecting that of the artist that he has.
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