Combs' defense pushed "Mia" about why she waited to tell the government her allegations of sexual assaults against Combs, saying it took about seven or eight months until she revealed the information to prosecutors.

Mia told the court that she doesn't remember the exact conversations, but that she did not tell the government until she had retained legal representation. The reasons are "privileged," she said.

Attorney-client privilege protects the confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and the client.

After her departure from Combs' employment, "Mia" said she went to mediation and originally asked for $10 million.

Steele, the defense lawyer, asked Mia if she'd demanded that eight-digit sum from a lawsuit. She responded that her claim against Combs went to mediation, and that's where $10 million emerged as an opening position in negotiations.

They eventually settled for $400,000, with her lawyers retaining about half of that, Mia said.

"Mia" spoke to Cassie Ventura after Combs' former girlfriend filed her November 2023 lawsuit detailing sexual abuse allegations against him.

But Mia testified that she didn't tell Ventura about her own experiences of sexual abuse from Combs during that conversation.

"I was still deeply shamed and wanted to die with this," Mia told the court.

"Mia" told the court that she felt terrible about covering for Combs with Ventura, his former girlfriend, but felt that if she didn't, he would have taken away his access to her.

Mia testified that Combs would find out because he stole their phones and put tracking devices on Ventura's car.

She added that she wasn't sure what Combs was capable of and reiterated that she was terrified.

The witness said she was very close to Cassie Ventura but admitted not telling Combs' girlfriend everything she could have.

"Mia" conceded that she didn't tell Ventura about Combs' alleged sexual assault on her. She also said she would keep the music mogul's whereabouts from Ventura, under his orders.

"I remember covering for him and feeling terrible about it," Mia said.

Prosecutor Maurene Comey alerted Subramanian that she felt Combs' defense was mistreating "Mia," accusing Brian Steele of humiliating her on the witness stand.

Comey laid out concerns that Steele's sarcasm and suggestions that Mia is lying are bordering on harassment and that Steele is adding to Mia's trauma. Subramanian did not agree that Steele was mistreating Mia, but he did agree that the questions had been argumentative and cumulative in nature.

The judge said he heard Comey's concerns and would be on the lookout for offensive conduct. He added that the government would alert the court if it found any.

Subramanian warned Steele that he can ask a question and move on, but that if he believes that Steele is asking something just to get it out there, he will step in.

The witness's face was briefly shown on an internal courthouse feed, though the error didn't elicit an immediate reaction in the courtroom.

For about 30 seconds, a camera showed "Mia," who was testifying under a pseudonym, despite a judge's order that her face not be shown or even drawn by courtroom sketch artists.

When her face was shown in a feed to an overflow room, the prosecution didn't lodge an immediate objection.

"Mia" is still getting pushed by the defense for years of friendly communications with Combs, despite her testimony that she feared him.

Another text from Mia, this time from December 2022, in which she wishes Combs a happy holiday season, was shown to the courtroom. The defense pointed out that Mia has told the jury she didn't want to see Combs because she feared him.

Mia was asked whether she was scared of Combs the entire time she knew him, including from 2019 to 2022.

"I was scared of him when he was scary, yes," Mia said.

The witness said she was "terrified and brainwashed," preventing her from coming forward earlier with allegations of sexual assault against Combs.

When defense attorney Steele asked "Mia" if she had a moral obligation to report Combs immediately, she said she didn't: "Because I was terrified and brainwashed."

It was only when others came forward publicly that Mia said she elected to do so too.

"It’s been a long process," she said. "I’m still untangling these things. I’m in therapy. "

Defense attorney Brian Steele pushed "Mia" about her testimony last week, during which she said Combs sexually assaulted her, asking point-blank whether the sexual assault testimony was true.

"I would not lie in this courtroom," Mia said. "I never lied in this courtroom; everything I have said is true."

Steele had shown the court multiple messages from Mia to Combs from 2018 to 2020, after she stopped working for Combs, in which she expressed love and good memories. In one message from August 2020, she wrote that the only things to remember were the good times.

Mia told the court that Combs had brainwashed her. She testified that the environment she was in was filled with high highs and low lows. Mia testified that she was always seeking Combs' approval.

Despite her near-constant contact with Combs while she worked for him, "Mia" admits she doesn't have any video of the music mogul during one of his fits of rage.

Mia also conceded that she doesn't have a text message to a friend to note any violent outbursts by Combs.

The witness testified that she wouldn't have made such documentation because doing so would have broken trust and confidentiality with her employer at the time.

When questioned about apparently loving texts "Mia" sent to Combs in late 2018 and throughout 2019, she testified that she felt bad for Combs after the death of Kim Porter.

Porter, who was with Combs for years and the mother of three of his children, died in November 2018 from pneumonia. Combs' defense showed texts following that time in which Mia wrote that she loved Combs and dreamed of him as her savior, months after Porter's death.

Mia told the court that she didn't think five months was a long time to recover from grief and that she hadn't yet understood what happened to her while working for Combs. She noted that there was a version of Combs who cared for her.

The defense introduced a text message from Mia to Combs, in which she told the defendant that he once, in a nightmare, saved her from R. Kelly.

Mia said in a Jan. 15, 2019, text message that she had a terrible dream of being trapped in an elevator with the convicted sex criminal, but then Combs "came and rescued me."

Judge Subramanian sustained a government objection, thus preventing Mia from answering why her alleged attacker, Combs, was framed as a savior in her dream. However, the defense still made its point to jurors that, despite the allegations Mia has made against Combs, there were times when she held him in the highest esteem.

Defense attorney Brian Steele opened his line of questioning today by having "Mia" go over her resume, asking whether she remembered telling Combs that she was multitasking, worked well under pressure, and had "thick skin."

Mia told Steele she doesn't remember writing that she had thick skin. He later asked her if she thought of herself as a leader, which Mia didn't quite know how to respond to.

She did agree that she speaks up for herself and could multitask under pressure. When asked directly if she had thick skin, Mia said that she thought she did.

The key prosecution witness, "Mia," took the stand this morning for the defense's cross-examination.

She wore a blouse, slacks and a jacket as jurors filed into the courtroom.

Eddy Garcia, a security supervisor at the Los Angeles hotel where Combs was filmed attacking Cassie Ventura, briefly took the witness stand to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

The appearance was highly procedural, just so Garcia could put that request on the record and prompt the government to assure him he's free from prosecution as long as he testifies truthfully.

Garcia left the witness stand but is expected to return later today.

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian denied defense efforts to show "Mia" drinking and having fun on vacation, as Combs' team previewed its line of attack on the key government witness.

Defense attorney Brian Steele said the footage from Honduras would go to his argument that Mia was let go from Combs Enterprises because of alcohol abuse.

But Subramanian sided with the prosecution, which claimed that footage of Mia doing shots would be more prejudicial than probative.

Week Four of Combs’ trial will begin with witness “Mia,” who used to work for Combs, returning to the stand for a third day to finish cross-examination, followed by a redirect from prosecutors. 

The following witnesses are also expected today: Enrique Santos and Eddy Garcia, who are expected to testify with immunity; Sylvia Okun, a hotel custodian; and Frank Piazza, a forensic video expert.

Court is now in session for Day 14 of Combs' racketeering and trafficking trial.

Testimony by Combs’ former employees could prop up the prosecution’s case that the music mogul allegedly oversaw a criminal enterprise that relied on employees and other accomplices to carry out illegal acts.

Capricorn Clark, a former assistant to the music mogul, said Combs was on a revenge mission in December 2011 after learning rapper Kid Cudi was also dating his girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie.

Clark testified last week that Combs, armed with a gun, commanded her to go with him to Cudi’s Hollywood Hills estate.

Another accuser, who used the pseudonym “Mia“ on the witness stand, testified that she worked as Combs’ personal assistant for several years, and alleged that he sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions during that time.

Combs was never charged in the firebombing or the alleged sexual assaults.

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"Mia" struck a respectful but defiant tone during her time on the stand Friday.

She readily acknowledged that she lavished praise and adoration on Combs in emails, texts and photo captions over the years, even after he allegedly abused her. On the stand, Mia came across as confident and far less subdued than she was during pivotal parts of Thursday's testimony.

Combs seemed interested as his defense lawyer led Mia through various Instagram posts during cross-examination. At one point, he put on his glasses and leaned toward the monitor to get a closer look.

President Donald Trump on Friday revealed he isn’t ruling out a pardon for Combs.

When asked whether he would consider taking that step, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that "nobody’s asked," but that he would "certainly look at the facts."

Trump added that he hadn’t seen or spoken to Combs in years and wasn’t following the trial closely.

Diddy’s former personal assistant, a woman identified in court by the pseudonym "Mia," is set to return to the stand today, after two days of testimony.

Mia has accused Diddy of sexual assault and other physical violence. Her allegations of forced labor are especially crucial for the U.S. government’s racketeering conspiracy case against the rapper.

On Friday, Mia was aggressively cross-examined by one of Diddy’s lawyers, who attempted to undermine her account. The defense lawyer confronted her with pictures and social media posts that appeared to show the ex-assistant enjoying her years working for the wealthy mogul.

Mia pushed back during cross-examination, insisting that the seemingly carefree Instagram photos didn’t reflect her "misery."