Notes seized from Sean "Diddy" Combs' jail cell last month allegedly included requests for a family member to find "dirt" on the rapper's alleged victims.
According to NBC News, 11 pages and "eight pages of a calendar book" that featured notes written by Combs, 55, within his Metropolitan Detention Centre cell in Brooklyn, were seized as part of "a planned sweep to address contraband and drugs," per the outlet's reporting on court proceedings that took place on Tuesday, November 19.
The outlet reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik from the prosecution claimed Diddy wrote about "paying off witnesses and finding dirt on victims," before quoting Slavik directly, saying, "A witness was paid off and finding dirt on two different victims is not a privilege."
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled in court that day that prosecutors "get rid of copies" of the notes. The court, meanwhile, "will keep the papers" as prosecutors and Combs' legal team "submit briefs about the raid" in the coming weeks.
Us Weekly has reached out to legal representatives for Diddy for comment.
The court hearing saw prosecutors accusing Combs of attempting to influence witnesses from behind bars as he remains incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution, following his arrest on September 16.
Slavik noted to the judge that "no member of the prosecution team was aware of or responsible for the search" and that it was the result of investigations conducted by the Bureau of Prisons.
A representative from the Bureau of Prisons also spoke at Tuesday's hearing, per the outlet, explaining that the search was "part of an ongoing investigation and that the materials were received in a completely appropriate manner."
Combs' defense team have denied the prosecutors' accusations, which also included a recount of an alleged October 14 call made by Combs to a family member to "work with someone who is not a lawyer about finding information about an accuser," per the outlet.
Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo wrote in a response to Tuesday's hearing, "The bottom line is that no multi-agency law enforcement initiative justified rifling through Mr. Combs' personal handwritten notes of conversations with his lawyers, and the prosecutors' arguments to the contrary lack all credibility."
As for Slavik's claim that reviewing Diddy's notes was "not a privilege," ABC News reported that Agnifilo begged to differ. He allegedly told the court, "every page from the stack is subject to the attorney-client privilege."
"Virtually every single thing in these legal pads are matters he discusses with his attorneys," Agnifilo said, per ABC. "This has been a complete institutional failure."
Tuesday's turn of events comes after Agnifilo fired back at prosecutors' claims in a legal motion filed on Friday, November 15, that Diddy tried to obstruct an investigation by contacting witnesses while in jail.
"Defense counsel has recently learned that the prosecutors are in possession of attorney client privileged material, including the defendant's own written notes. This search and seizure are in violation of Mr. Combs' Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights," Agnifilo argued in a letter submitted on Monday, November 18.
Agnifilo claimed, in court documents obtained by Us that day, that Diddy's legal team was not aware that the musician's written notes were taken from his cell and given to prosecutors until the prosecution filed a motion on Friday.
In September, a 14-page indictment accused Diddy of hosting "elaborate and produced sex performances" called "Freak Offs" and alleged that he used "force, threats of force and coercion to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers."
Diddy has remained behind bars after being denied bail twice by two different judges who have based their rejections on concerns over potential witness tampering.
A third bail hearing, filed by Diddy's legal team on October 8, is currently scheduled for Friday, November 22.