Stephen A. Smith believes that accusing the government of leaking the Cassie Ventura tape may assist Sean Combs in the court of public opinion and potentially lead to the tape's exclusion as evidence.

“In the end, when you really think about it, it does kind of help him in the court of public opinion. Because whenever a black man is being prosecuted and we think that the government has done something salacious or unethical in their pursuit of him, we going to side with them”