NEW YORK (AP) — The possibility that music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs might testify at his federal sex trafficking trial all but vanished Tuesday after his lawyer predicted a defense presentation lasting as little as two days and a judge said jurors could begin deliberations as early as next week.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo offered the hint when Judge Arun Subramanian asked him for an estimate on the length of the defense case, and the attorney said their presentation could last less than two days — but not more than five.
If Combs testified, it was likely his testimony would take longer than a week. Testimony by two of his former girlfriends consumed two of the trial’s six weeks.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges. He has been jailed at a federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September arrest at a Manhattan hotel.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said prosecutors would rest as early as Wednesday and no later than Friday morning.
The estimates were provided Tuesday after the irate judge scolded prosecutors and defense lawyers, saying information about a closed court proceeding involving a juror last Friday had leaked to a media outlet.
The judge said he believed someone who was at the sealed court hearing violated his secrecy order. In the future, Subramanian said, he would hold Comey and Agnifilo responsible for any slipups, and any violations of his orders could result in criminal contempt penalties “at the most extreme level.”
“This is the only warning I will give,” he said.
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Meanwhile, prosecutors resumed showing jurors evidence Tuesday of text messages, phone calls, hotel records to support charges that Combs oversaw a racketeering conspiracy that utilized his employees and associates and his stature in the hip-hop industry to help him control and abuse women, including two former girlfriends.
Ex-girlfriends Casandra “ Cassie ” Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym “ Jane ” told jurors that Combs used threats and monetary incentives to coerce them into frequent multi-day sex marathons where Combs watched, directed and sometimes filmed them engaging with male sex workers.
Defense lawyers say prosecutors were trying to criminalize consenting sex between adults by targeting Combs.
The abortion funding system across the U.S. is battered three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce bans.
An initial surge of donations has subsided, scores of clinics have closed and advocates fear that federal policy changes will result in more shutting down.
“We’re all collectively struggling,” said Ramsie Monk, director of development at the Women’s Health Centers of West Virginia and Maryland, which opened a clinic in 2023 in western Maryland after abortion was banned in West Virginia.
“I honestly don’t know if it’s a sustainable model,” said Mercedes Sanchez, executive director at the Cedar River Clinics in Washington. “Clinics, providers, funds are all very committed to making sure people can access care, but it is definitely going to be more of a challenge.”
Bans in some states mean travel has become a bigger part of obtaining an abortion, bring a host of costs.
A mitigating factor is that most abortions are now done with medications. They can be prescribed by telehealth, including to women in states where abortion is banned. But they can’t be used in every case, some women prefer procedures, and there are challenges to the legality of pills and how they’re prescribed.
FILE – A Planned Parenthood sign is displayed on the outside of the clinic, Aug. 1, 2023, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
FILE – Anti-abortion activists gather on Capitol Hill during the first March for Life since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe vs. Wade decision that created a legal right to an abortion in the United States, in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE – The Trust Women clinic is pictured Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
FILE – An anti-abortion supporter sits behind a sign that advises the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic is still open in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, July 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
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FILE – A Planned Parenthood sign is displayed on the outside of the clinic, Aug. 1, 2023, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Not all private insurance plans cover abortions. Federal taxpayer funds cannot be used for abortions, but state Medicaid funds cover them in some places. And a network of private funding helps cover procedures or travel and other costs.
The increase in contributions that followed the 2022 Supreme Court ruling has declined for most funds and clinics. “The resources have not kept pace with demand continuing to surge,” Lynn McCann-Yeh, co-executive director of the Baltimore Abortion Fund.
With bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy now being enforced in 12 states and bans at about six weeks’ gestation being enforced in four others, travel for abortion has become more frequent. Costs for each trip can include plane tickets or gas for long drives, meals, hotels and child care — all on top of clinic fees.
Last year, the National Abortion Federation’s hotline fund reduced the portion of clinic costs it covers for people with financial needs to 30% from 50% so it could help more people as demand increased. The group’s says travel costs now average over $1,000 per person.
Travel needs have made the job for abortion funds not only more expensive but more intricate.
Before the Texas ban started in 2021, Fund Texas Choice got about 40 calls a month, executive director Anna Rupani said. Now, it’s over 200. And assisting each caller can take more time because they involve arranging flights and hotels, not just lining up rides to clinics in the state.
Some people cobble together money from a hodgepodge of groups to pay for an abortion. Grace McGarry, who manages the phone line for Whole Woman’s Health, which operates five clinics across the U.S., said he talked to a patient who was getting aid from nine different groups.
Clinics have closed, even in states without new bans
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, I Need An A, which operates a website dedicated to providing information about abortion options, has tallied 105 clinics closing.
Twenty-nine closures were in states where abortion is now banned at all stages of pregnancy. Eleven were in states where it’s banned at about six weeks’ gestation, before many women realize they’re pregnant. But 65 of the closures were in other states.
At the same time, 34 clinics have opened anew or moved to states where abortion is legal.
“Each and every one of those has been a blow to that community that hasn’t been refilled,” said Rebecca Nall, the founder of I Need An A.
Planned Parenthood North Central States announced in May that it would close eight locations in Iowa and Minnesota while expanding services at some other clinics.
Ruth Richardson, the CEO of that Planned Parenthood affiliate, said the reorganization recognizes that the number of abortions in Iowa plummeted after the state started enforcing its strict abortion law. It also reflects that the regional group’s overall budget is down.
“We’ve got the compounded challenges of the fact that sexual and reproductive health care has been politicized in this environment,” she said.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the closures are warranted: “Planned Parenthood’s focus is squarely on abortions, gender transitions and political spending.”
The federal government has moved to cut funding for clinics
In March, the Department of Health and Human Services withheld $27.5 million that groups were expecting to provide family planning, contraception, cancer screening and sexually transmitted infection tests and treatment. Some of the groups also provide abortions and include at least 11 regional Planned Parenthood affiliates.
“We’re absolutely in a public health crisis of epic proportions,” said Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation. “We’re in a situation where there are reproductive health care deserts, not just abortion care deserts.”
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President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill that is up for consideration in the Senate after getting House approval would deliver more blows to abortion funding.
It would bar federally subsidized health insurance plans from covering abortion, except if it’s necessary to save the life of the woman, or in cases of rape or incest.
The bill also would bar Medicaid funds from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s biggest abortion provider.
Planned Parenthood said those provisions could lead to the closures of about half its clinics that provide abortion —- and about one-fourth of abortion clinics nationwide. The biggest impact on affiliate clinics would be in states where abortion is legal.
Alexis McGill-Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said it’s almost been a challenge to fund abortion — and all health care — for low-income people.
“If the market could have figured it out,” she said, “then we wouldn’t exist.”
When the cities of Apple Valley and Bloomington banned home rentals of less than 30 days, they violated the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bans government takings of private property without compensation — or so says an Apple Valley Realtor, who filed twin lawsuits against both cities Monday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
“I’ve been selling real estate well over 50 years in both areas,” said Connie Toupin, of Burnsville. “My main concern is property rights. I’ve lost a lot of money due to these short-term rental laws. But I’m doing this for the good of the people.”
Toupin maintains that city councils in Apple Valley and Bloomington over the past decade passed blanket restrictions against Airbnb and Vrbo-style rentals without any evidence they might harm surrounding properties, and before their own planning commissions could complete further study. To justify a blanket ban on short-term rentals, Bloomington officials mostly pointed to the potential for unwanted competition with the city’s hotels, according to her 31-page complaint against the city.
“For Bloomington, it was definitely the hotels along (Interstate) 494,” said Toupin, noting her renters are interested in visiting the Mall of America and Minnesota Zoo. “We get high-end guests who visit all of our properties. I’d guess 70% to 75% of them are families. I’m very careful in who I select to allow to stay in my properties because I don’t want to bother the neighbors at all. I don’t allow any parties or big events or things like that.”
While the two federal lawsuits were filed against the individual cities, Toupin hopes the federal courts will create precedent discouraging bans on short-term rentals statewide and overturning those already in place elsewhere. An upcoming ban in Richfield, limiting short-term rentals to five days, takes effect Jan. 1. Many other cities require licenses for short-term rentals.
“Sharing my home occasionally has helped me be independent and invest in my retirement, while supporting local shops, restaurants, and attractions,” Toupin said. “Instead of supporting homeowners like me, the city is punishing us with a blanket ban.”
Samuel Diehl, Toupin’s attorney with the Anoka law firm of Cross Castle, said he was unaware of any similar lawsuits previously filed in the state’s district or federal courts with the intention of overturning blanket bans on short-term rentals.
Apple Valley officials could not be reached Monday, and Bloomington officials declined to comment.
Loss of traditional housing
Airbnb launched its short-term rental website in 2008 and had drawn 1 million bookings by 2011 when it branched out to international markets, such as London and Paris. Its growing popularity drew competition from other online short-term rental companies, as well as concerns from municipalities.
Housing advocates bemoaned the loss of traditional housing stock at a time of rising rents, and cities grappled with noise complaints related to raucous weekend rentals around sporting events, college spring break and other festivities.
Still, cities can simply enforce noise and nuisance violations without banning short-term rentals, Diehl said.
“I have more problems with long-term tenants not maintaining properties than I ever do with short-term tenants,” Toupin said. “You’re only going to hear the horror stories. Nobody complains about the majority of travelers.”
In Spain over the weekend, thousands of protesters — some squirting water guns at tourists — took to the streets of Barcelona and Mallorca to protest the impact of short-term rentals and mass summer tourism on housing costs.
Under those rules, a St. Paul duplex or triplex that is not owner-occupied may lease out one short-term rental. A duplex or triplex that is owner-occupied may lease out all of its units as short-term rentals. Rules around fourplexes vary with the type of zoning district, but residential buildings in St. Paul with more than four units may devote no more than four units to short-term rentals, and no more than 50% of their total units, unless the owner obtains a conditional use permit.
St. Paul’s short-term rentals require applications, licensing fees and proof of insurance. Non-owner-occupied properties require a fire certificate of occupancy.
In Minneapolis, property owners are limited to owning one short-term rental property aside from their homestead. Buildings with 20 or more units may reserve no more than 10% of their units as short-term rentals.
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The S&P 500 was down 0.3% in morning trading following signals that one of the U.S. economy’s main engines, spending by households, is weakening while Israel’s conflict with Iran may be worsening. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 89 points, or 0.2%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.
Treasury yields also edged lower in the bond market after a report said shoppers spent less last month at U.S. retailers than the month before and than economists expected. Solid such spending has been one of the linchpins keeping the economy out of a recession, but part of May’s drop may have simply been a return to more normal trends.
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“Today’s data suggests consumers are downshifting, but they haven’t yet slammed the brakes,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Trump, meanwhile, left a Group of Seven summit early and warned that people in Iran’s capital should evacuate “immediately.” It took only about eight hours for Trump to go from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives.
Israel’s continuing fight with Iran has the potential to drive up prices for crude oil and gasoline because Iran is a major producer of oil, and it also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s crude passes.
Crude prices climbed in their latest see-saw move after leaping roughly 7% on Friday and then calming on Monday with hopes that the fighting could remain relatively contained. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.6% to $72.12. Brent crude, the international standard, added 2.8% to $75.28 per barrel.
Often, higher oil prices will help stocks of companies in the solar industry because they increase the incentive to switch to alternative energy sources. But solar stocks tumbled amid worries that Congress may phase out tax credits for solar, wind and other energy sources that produce fewer emissions that change the Earth’s climate.
Enphase Energy dropped 23.6%, and First Solar fell 18.2%.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Jabil, which jumped 10.7% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Mike Dastoor credited strength from accelerated demand related to artificial-intelligence technology, among other things.
Verve Therapeutics soared 73.8% after Eli Lilly said it would buy the company developing genetic medicines for cardiovascular disease in a deal that could be worth up to $1.3 billion if certain conditions are met. Lilly’s stock slipped 1%.
All of the action was taking place as the Federal Reserve got set to begin a two-day meeting on interest rates. The nearly unanimous expectation among traders and economists is that the Fed will make no move.
The Fed has been hesitant to lower interest rates, and it’s been on hold this year after cutting at the end of last year, because it’s waiting to see how much Trump’s tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation. Inflation has remained relatively tame recently, and it’s near the Fed’s target of 2%.
More important for financial markets on Wednesday will likely be the latest set of forecasts that Fed officials will publish for where they see the economy and interest rates heading in upcoming years.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.43% from 4.46% late Monday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with its overnight interest rate, edged down to 3.96% from 3.97%.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6% after the Bank of Japan opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged. It’s been gradually raising its rate from near zero and cutting back on its purchases of Japanese government bonds to help counter inflation.
