Diddy trial live updates: Former assistant and ‘drug mule’ Brendan Paul to testify

Jurors have returned from their brief morning break and Penland is back on the stand.

Prosecutors have finished their direct testimony of Special Agent DeLeassa Penland and the defense will now have the opportunity to cross-examine her.

Court is on a brief 15-minute break before cross begins.

AUSA Emily Johnson is showing jurors a timeline of message records between Combs and Ventura leading up to and after the March 2016 incident at the InterContinental hotel in which Combs beat Ventura.

The records show Ventura and Combs texting to inquire about a male escort’s availability for a “freak off,” days before the incident.

Jurors then saw phone records from the day of the incident. After Ventura left the hotel, Combs called her at least five times in a row and texted her incessantly, demanding she return.

“Call me, the cops are here,” Combs said, claiming he was “about to be arrested.”

Johnson lined up the timeline so jurors could see that Ventura took selfies of herself with a swollen lip as Combs was trying to reach her.

Jurors are also seeing how several of Combs’ staff got involved, with Kristina Khorram “KK” and D-Roc intervening.

A sell-out musical about the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin has hit the stage before Mangione has even gone to trial. Josh Marcus was on hand at the premiere of the wildest musical of 2025:

Jurors are well aware, at this point, that Combs’ “freak offs” often caused widespread damage to hotels. But they’re once again seeing some massive charges for those damages.

In 2012, the InterContinental Hotel in New York charged Combs $46,786 for “penthouse damages.”

In 2015, the Hermitage Hotel charged Combs $950 for “linen” damages and “deep cleaning.

The Beverly Hills Hotel charged Combs $500 for damages to drapes and carpets.

Special Agent Penland is testifying about flight and hotel records for Combs, Ventura, and male sex workers that were paid for by Bad Boy Entertainment.

Those records get to the heart of the government’s transportation for prostitution purposes charge.

Penland testified that flight records from 2009 indicate Bad Boy Entertainment paid for a round-trip flight from New York to Los Angeles for Jules Theodore – a male sex worker whom Combs and Ventura often hired.

Hotel records show that Combs’ credit card was charged for the stay.

Another hotel record showed a stay for Clayton Howard, who was known to Combs and Venutra as “Dave.”

Special Agent Deleassa Penland is back on the stand to testify about the evidence collected in Combs’ investigation.

Penland did not work on the investigation but reviewed evidence for jurors yesterday.

Judge Arun Subramanian opened Tuesday’s proceeding with a warning to both the prosecution and defense after a reporter seemingly published information that was supposed to remain under seal.

Subramanian was furious and threatened to initiate a formal investigation into the matter to determine how information that was under seal had been leaked to the press.

“Someone is lying … the transcript was sealed,” Subramanian said.

It is unclear what article Subramanian was referring to exactly or who published it.

Today, the court will finish up Special Agent Penland’s testimony, connecting the dots between flight records, hotel stays, and text messages that seem to correspond to freak offs.

Then we’ll hear from Brendan Paul, whose testimony should take us through the end of the day.

Jurors were shown videos of “freak offs” for the first time on Monday, six weeks into the eight-week trial.

While the panel has previously heard audio recordings and seen still images of the sex marathons, yesterday marked the first time the jurors watched clips of the days-long drug-fueled sex marathons.

Jurors watched the footage after hearing weeks of testimony about the sex encounters in intensive detail, from planning them – assistants buying baby oil and lube, women coordinating with escorts, the cash transactions – his ex-girlfriend’s feelings about them and how the encounters were recorded.

But oddly, the jurors appeared almost desensitized, barely reacting to the clips at all.

Here’s a full report from Kelly Rissman.