Federal prosecutors say Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers are trying to “hijack” the music mogul’s criminal case by asking a judge to force early disclosure of evidence, including the identities of his accusers .

Prosecutors urged a judge in papers filed Wednesday evening to deny the requests, saying efforts to reveal the identities of potential witnesses, in particular, were “grossly inappropriate.”

They said it was inappropriate for defense attorneys to seek disclosure of the victims’ identities and details of other evidence that would provide insight into the government’s case.

Defense attorneys also requested a silence to prevent the accusers’ attorneys from commenting publicly and claimed the government’s leaks to the media threatened the rapper’s chances of a fair trial.

Prosecutors said the requests were “a thinly veiled attempt to restrict the government’s evidence at this early stage of the case and hijack the criminal proceedings so that the defendant can respond to civil charges.” This request must be categorically rejected, especially in light of the risk it poses to the safety of witnesses. »

Prosecutors added: “As the defendant well knows, no legal authority exists for his attempt to co-opt this criminal proceeding to defend against civil litigation. »

Combs, 54, has been held in a Brooklyn federal prison since his arrest Sept. 16, awaiting a trial scheduled to begin May 5.

One of the reasons a judge rejected a bond offered by his lawyers was that he posed a risk of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years, with the help of his associates and employees.

Prosecutors said that since at least 2008, Combs engaged in a racketeering conspiracy, using his power and prestige in the entertainment industry to force women to engage in prolonged sexual acts with sex workers males in what was known as the “Freak Offs”.

The federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is scheduled to begin May 5, a New York judge ruled Thursday.

They said he used videos of the attacks as collateral to threaten victims, and that he also physically assaulted women and others by punching, kicking, dragging and giving them blows. kicks.

Prosecutors said defense allegations that the government leaked to CNN a video of Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway on March 5, 2016, were not true.

They said defense attorneys were engaged in a “blatant attempt to suppress a damning piece of evidence against him – a video of him violently beating a victim.”

In May, Combs released a video statement in which he said he took “full responsibility” for his actions in the video against Cassie, an R&B singer whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. She sued him last November, alleging years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. The lawsuit was settled the next day.

“I was disgusted at the time when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” Combs said in the video.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they were sexually abused unless they report it publicly, as Ventura did.

Combs also faces civil lawsuits filed by several men and women alleging they were sexually assaulted by Combs over the past quarter century after being drugged.

Combs’ attorneys have requested that the accusers and their attorneys be ordered not to make public statements, saying they have already made “numerous inflammatory extrajudicial statements aimed at assassinating Mr. Combs’ reputation in the press.” .

More than a dozen lawsuits filed in Manhattan federal court have been assigned to different judges, leading to varying preliminary rulings on whether the allegations were sufficiently stated.

In one case, a judge ruled Wednesday that a Tennessee woman who alleges Combs raped her in 2004 when she was 19 must proceed with no anonymity or at all. The judge wrote that defendants have the right to investigate those who sue them and that the public has the right to know who is using the courts.

An attorney for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.