Closing arguments in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs could begin as early as Thursday as the government’s sprawling case against the hip-hop producer winds down.

The defense will not call any witnesses, the attorneys said on Monday, and instead will present a few pieces of evidence. 

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors examined their last witness and showed the jury more explicit video footage of the “freak off” parties that are at the center of the case, which alleges that Mr. Combs operated a “criminal enterprise” and illegally transported sex workers in order to hold the intimate, three-person sex sessions and sate his carnal desires. 

In total the jurors have now seen more than 40 minutes of “freak off” clips, showing two of the defendant’s former girlfriends — in separate “freak offs” — having sexual encounters with male prostitutes.    

“Is there one female in every video?” an assistant United States attorney, Maurene Comey, asked a witness on Monday. Ms. Comey, who is the daughter of a former FBI director, James Comey, is the lead prosecutor in the case brought against Mr. Combs. 

The witness, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, Joseph Cerciello, had been called to the stand to resume the testimony he had begun on Friday. Mr. Cerciello, whose department investigates “global threats,” is not involved in the case but has reviewed charts, which include videos, phone calls, phone records, audio and text messages, bank statements, and other documents pertaining to the case to verify their authenticity. It was Homeland Security agents who raided Mr. Combs’s residences in South Florida and Los Angeles over Memorial Day Weekend in 2024.

Mr. Cerciello confirmed that there was a female in every video. 

“Who is that?” the prosecutor asked.  

“Jane,” Mr. Cerciello answered. 

The woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane told the jury that she dated the music producer between 2021 and 2024, until one month before he was arrested in New York. 

Jane claimed that Mr. Combs coerced her into having sex with male prostitutes during these freak off parties, which sometimes lasted up 30 hours, or even several days, and that she would consume drugs to get through these long sessions, which Mr. Combs, who was also allegedly on drugs, observed and meticulously directed, while he pleasured himself. 

“And is she always with one or more males?” Ms. Comey went on. 

The witness confirmed that the videos, which were recorded during these encounters, showed Jane having sex with other men. In some videos, the witness testified, he had also seen Mr. Combs. 

Mr. Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking, and two counts of transportation for the purpose of prostitution. He could face life in prison if convicted on all counts.  

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his defense team argues that the sexual encounters were all consensual. Both women, who have accused him of the coercion, which translates into the sex-trafficking charges, were long-time former girlfriends of his, and the defense says they were willing participants. 

But prosecutors claim that the women were coerced to perform these sexual acts by Mr. Combs through various means. For one, he would threaten to release the explicit videos he had recorded of them during these freak-offs to the public and their families, the alleged victims have testified.  

The jury had previously seen footage of Cassandra Ventura, who was in a tumultuous off-and-on relationship with Mr. Combs between 2007 and 2018, having sex with male prostitutes. On Monday, the jurors saw videos of Jane. 

Due to the explicit nature of the footage, the judge has ruled that only members of the jury can watch it. Each juror had a little screen in front of his or her chair, where the videos were played, and each was given a pair of headphones. Most of the screens at the defense tables, which are closest to the courtroom gallery, were shut off. But a few had the images playing, and the defendant was seen trying to stretch his neck to catch a glimpse. 

Later in the day, during cross-examination, the defense also played about five minutes of selected footage, presumably in an attempt to show how Jane was enjoying herself. 

It’s questionable how effective the video evidence will be for either side. Last week, some jurors winced when they saw the videos for the very first time. On Monday, the reactions appeared to be more neutral. 

The videos prove that sexual encounters took place. But what they actually show — whether the encounters were violent or playful — remains unknown.

The jury watched about 13 clips of videos recorded in November 2021, December 2021, February 2022, August 2022, and October 2022. Later they also saw footage from February, March, and July 2023, and August 2024. The jury watched more than 12 minutes of the footage.

Mr. Cerciello also read text messages sent to Mr. Combs from Jane; in one, she wrote: “I don’t feel like performing loveless, cold sex.”

To prove the racketeering charge, the prosecution needs to establish that Mr. Combs led a “criminal enterprise,” meaning there were others who helped him commit the alleged criminal acts. 

During the trial Mr. Combs’s former chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, has been mentioned frequently in messages she exchanged with the defendant and the witnesses, who also told the jury about her direct involvement in Mr. Combs’s life.  

It appears that Ms. Khorram, who will not testify and who has not been charged — though prosecutors have referred to her as co-conspirator — was well aware of the freak off parties and also of the alleged beatings Mr. Combs’s girlfriends endured. She also booked flights for the male escorts, and arranged their payments, records showed.   

Furthermore, Ms. Khorram was involved in bribing a security guard at the luxury InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles to sell her the footage surveillance cameras had recorded of Mr. Combs running through the hotel hallway in a towel and socks, chasing after Ms. Ventura, who was trying to get into an elevator and leave the hotel. 

In the video, which was first aired by CNN in May 2024, Mr. Combs can be seen kicking and dragging Ms. Ventura back to the room. 

The security guards who sold Mr. Combs the surveillance video had falsely told him it was the only copy. Just as Mr. Combs had feared, the video effectively ended his career.  

On Monday, prosecutors also sought to show how Mr. Combs used his employees to pay the male prostitutes, which could be considered a criminal enterprise. Evidence showed that one time Mr. Combs asked Ms. Khorram to send $5,000 in cash to his hotel room. Soon after, according to bank records, Jane sent a cash payment to a male escort named Sly, through a Cash App, and another large amount of cash was deposited into the accounts of another escort, called Paul. 

Messages from the same day also showed that Mr. Combs asked Ms. Khorram to extend the room another night and that she had organized that someone dropped off more baby oil at the hotel.  

“Baby oil dropped outside the door,” Ms. Khorram’s message read.  

During cross-examination, defense attorney Teny Geragos, daughter of a celebrity defense attorney, Mark Geragos, asked the witness to read messages sent by Jane, where she expressed that she had actually enjoyed these encounters.  

After one encounter, Jane wrote to Sly, “So happy you are such a sweetheart,” and “thank you for making me feel beautiful.” In another message, she wrote, “getting flashbacks,” followed by a drooling emoji.

The defense did not shy away from showing explicitly sexual messages sent between Mr. Combs and Jane. 

In one such exchange, she wrote, “I’m horny for you.” To which he replied, “What you wanna do?” 

“Keep going,” she answered. 

When Mr. Combs asked her to be more “explicit,” she texted him that she wanted to have oral sex with the escort Paul, while Mr. Combs gave her “that strong stroke” and that she loved when he “rubbed oil” all over her legs and her body and kissed her. 

The defense also tried to show that Jane chose what to consume during these sexcapades. On December 5, 2021, for example, Jane called the male escort Sly and asked him to bring “hydrating drinks lollipops and/or gums, healthy, easy foods … basically all the things we do already. Let’s do alkaline water, chia pudding, soups, Gatorade.” 

In toto, there were fewer messages that showed Jane enjoying herself than the ones that showed her unwilling, tired, and exhausted.    

Prosecutors said they would need about an hour and 15 minutes to finish the redirect of Mr. Cerciello on Tuesday. 

The defense told the judge they would not call any witnesses, which means that Mr. Combs will not testify in his trial. 

The lead defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said he would offer some documents and read evidence into record, which could be finished by Tuesday afternoon. 

The burden of proof is on the side of the prosecution, meaning they have to convince the jury of the defendant’s guilt. The defense, technically, does not need to prove anything. By declining to call witnesses or have Mr. Combs testify, the defense is expressing confidence that the prosecution has failed to meet its burden.   

If all goes according to plan, the judge will hold a charging conference with the attorneys on Wednesday, where he will discuss the charges he will read to the jury after closing arguments. 

Each side said they would need at least four hours for its summation, and since prosecutors can hold a rebuttal summation after the defense is finished, the arguments may go into Friday. 

The jury could be charged either on Friday or on Monday. 

A verdict could possibly come as early as next week.