Former CIA agent Tracy Walder exclusively tells PEOPLE that she predicts “something will come down soon in terms of charges”
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura took a day to reach a settlement agreement— after a lawsuit was filed last year— all because of recently released surveillance video, says Tracy Walder, a former CIA and FBI special agent.
On Friday, May 17, CNN released a March 2016 surveillance video from the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles that showed the music mogul in a towel grabbing, kicking and shoving his ex-girlfriend Ventura outside an elevator. The footage resembled a scenario described in her lawsuit that accused Diddy of rape, sex trafficking and domestic violence.
Ventura described the incident where Combs became “extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye,” the suit detailed. The lawsuit said that after Combs fell asleep, Ventura attempted to leave the hotel room, but he woke up and followed her into the hallway screaming.
“He grabbed at her, and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, causing glass to crash around them as she ran to the elevator to escape,” the lawsuit read.
Hours later, Walder spoke exclusively to PEOPLE, describing the video footage as the reason why Combs “settled so quickly with his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura in November 2023.”
“Diddy never expected the video to get out. It’s very upsetting that this has exceeded its statute of limitations. It does depend on what the charge could be, but it can range from one to three years. Felony assaults in California have a statute of limitations of three years,” says Walder. “Since this stemmed from a 2016 incident, she wouldn’t be able to file assault or battery charges in Los Angeles. ”
“It really throws water on Diddy and his legal team’s argument that the government used too much force in his search warrants,” Walder continues.
Walder worked as a CIA agent for six years, starting in 2000, and then immediately worked for the FBI afterward, where she was a special agent for four years.
She suspects that the music mogul “knew of this video, knew of other things he had been accused of, though he was acquitted of his charges, knew he had an armed security team, and thus this was entirely an appropriate use of force.”
“I think maybe something will come down soon in terms of charges, but it is interesting it was released now,” Welder adds. She alleges that “either [Cassie’s] attorney or the hotel gave CNN the footage since the hotel only got paid $50,000 to keep it quiet,” per Ventura’s lawsuit.
“I’m wondering if Cassie or her attorney are frustrated there haven’t been criminal charges yet federally and that’s why they did this. I would imagine Sean Combs won’t be fighting any civil cases now,” adds Welder.
In the past several months, five people have accused Combs of sexual assault and similar allegations. In November, he was accused of drugging and raping a woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal when she was a college student at Syracuse University in 1991.
That same day, Liza Gardner filed a lawsuit against him, claiming that he and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall took turns raping her and a friend in New Jersey (per new case documents) more than 30 years ago. A month later, Combs was accused of sexual assault by a fourth victim, who alleged he, former Bad Boy Entertainment president Harve Pierre and a third individual labeled as “Third Assailant” of sex trafficking and gang rape when she was 17 years old.
Combs issued a blanket denial of all allegations against him in a statement to PEOPLE in December.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” he said.
The mogul added, “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
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In February, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs sexually harassed, drugged and threatened him during their time working together.
Following the multiple allegations, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raided Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami. Diddy’s sons Justin Combs, 30, and Christian ‘King’ Combs, 25, were shown in handcuffs outside of their Beverly Hills home on March 26.
“I suspect they raided all residences at once to prevent the destruction of evidence. That’s just a practice used when serving search warrants at multiple properties where evidence (computers, external and flash drives, etc.) may be destroyed. It’s about preservation,” says Walder.
“RICO charges are tough to beat and it involves a very large defense team because there is a lot to go through. They are extremely complex and it can take months or years to fully build out a criminal financial paper trail. They must prove a repetitive pattern that takes time,” she continues. “I don’t think anything will be different here. Law enforcement does not give deference to people in Hollywood.”
“All of this will have to go to a grand jury and they will decide whether or not to issue an indictment and I haven’t seen the evidence so I can’t say whether or not he will be arrested. But I suspect an investigation will take time just based on the volume of evidence they may have,” she adds. “A sentence of RICO can be 20 years. But I don’t know the evidence, so I don’t know what the sentence would be. But the video is just enraging and I hope everyone calling her a gold digger feels awful.”
