Everything You Need To Know About The Diddy Trial
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Monday, June 30th, 2025. I'm Jessica Rosenthal. The competition is on for critical minerals worldwide. But once you get them, you have to refine them. And one U.S. state wants to become home to American mineral processing. And so Oklahoma wanted to get out in front of that. And so we started kind of planting the flag that we're the state to be located in because of our business-friendly environment. Our permitting process is super easy. We speak with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

I'm Grinnell Scott. The jury in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs is expected to begin deliberations after a long, graphic, and very significant look at Combs' influence, for better or worse, in the entertainment industry.

The outcome of it, it will certainly send a message to other people in Hollywood on what could happen if your personal life involves any of this. We'll talk with Fox News correspondent C.B. Cotton, who's been covering the trial. And I'm Tevi Troy. I've got the final word on the Fox News rundown.

When it comes to critical minerals, China is king. The numbers show they're the main producer of all the most critical minerals and they process or refine most of them as well. This was a big part of the discussion with China earlier this year after the CCP stopped the flow of several critical minerals following the president's increase in tariffs. They'd been imposing export controls on several minerals for the last two years. But about three weeks ago, President Trump said the two countries had reached a deal. We have a deal with China, as you know, but

We were straightening out some of the points having to do mostly with rare earth magnets and some other things. Earlier this year, President Trump had made a deal with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, establishing a joint investment fund, giving the U.S. preferential access to critical minerals in Ukraine. Last week at the NATO summit in the Netherlands, the president referenced it. We cannot afford to...

be dependent on foreign adversaries for critical minerals. And as you know, we made a deal with Ukraine to take a vast amount of the land they have for minerals we needed. The need includes minerals like titanium and tungsten for our military, lithium, cobalt and nickel for batteries, and gallium for phones, computers and solar cells, just to name a few.

Now, as behind in the competition as we may be here, there are places across the U.S. with large mineral deposits. And once we get them out of the ground, one state is setting up shop, hoping to be home to American mineral processing. You know, I understand that we have to be the most business friendly state in the country from a national security standpoint. We want to get the supply chain closer to home. So

President Biden, President Trump, everybody is talking about reshoring, bringing this back home. And so I knew there was going to be a big effort nationally. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. And so Oklahoma wanted to get out in front of that.

And so we've started kind of laying the flag, that planning the flag that we're the state to be located in because of our business friendly environment, our permitting process is super easy, our low cost of energy, the abundant energy that we have to meet the needs of manufacturing. So all that stuff plays in. Cost of living is so much better than the coast in Oklahoma.

And so that therefore we're really putting Oak home on the map when it comes to critical minerals. Yeah, to that point, Governor, you guys are, I think, going to be home or are home now to the only nickel refining machinery plant in the U.S. and what may end up being the largest lithium refinery.

Tell me more about what it is in Oklahoma, because it's not like you guys are the place where these particular minerals are coming from, right? You don't have these large deposits. It's the other things you're mentioning.

Yeah, well, for example, you're exactly right. Westwind, USA Rare Earth, all of this processing used to be done in China. And not that China had a lot of the raw materials, but they would ship the raw materials there and then the processing. So the permitting, all of that goes into, it's a new process. So USA Rare Earth is a mineral to magnet manufacturer.

And they chose Oklahoma because they knew that we were. It was a new process and we were going to be able to work with them from a DEQ or Department of Environmental Quality standpoint. So that's one of the things. And then a lot of these are heavy

you know, electricity users. And I cannot let you, I can't tell you how important a reliable, affordable energy grid is. And so we are doubling down on that because these are high energy users. EGA just announced a $4 billion investment. That's a, that's an aluminum smeltering company that's coming to Oklahoma. And, you know, nobody has built a new smelter in America that,

for 45 years and they chose Oklahoma. And so we also passed behind the meter this year because I'm trying to encourage more electricity generation and that will hold my public utilities accountable. So in other words, if a public utility is saying, oh, it's going to be seven years before I can provide you with a gigawatt of power,

Now you can hook up with our gas pipelines. You can put your own turbine there, gas turbine, and you can create your own electricity for your factory or for your data center or your AI center, whatever you want to do. And so that's just creating a lot of buzz and a lot of momentum in Oklahoma. Yeah.

Tell me, though, I was reading because one CEO, I think of Stardust, was saying was talking about that electricity or that electrical capacity and that that was such a big draw for him. But I was reading in context of that, that Oklahoma is really reliant on renewables, right? Like wind. It's accounting already for what, half of the energy production in your state. We hear stories all the time about how that's dicey, right? You don't want to rely on too many renewables. You want this diverse portfolio. How are you guys able to manage that?

I guess, having half of your energy come from renewables and have it be so, I guess, stable? Or are there risks? Yes. Most people don't realize that about Oklahoma. We're an all-of-the-above approach. And I'm a free market guy, so I don't care if you build...

wind turbines or you build solar panels or you build natural gas. We think we need more of everything to compete and win over the next 20 years as the demand for electricity is going to increase. That's Oklahoma's strategy. But you're exactly right. You have to have a base load of natural gas

And then, you know, about 45% of our energy comes from wind. But we also are connected with the Southwest Power Pool. So we share resources and we sell a lot of our stuff out of state. So we're a net exporter of energy in Oklahoma. But you're exactly right. You can't just build renewables and when the wind's not blowing,

You still need to heat your home and you heat your business. And so those are problems. And so that's just kind of a math problem. There's what's called nameplate capacity versus what you can actually count on from those different sources. But it's a good supplement. And that's why Google has their largest data center located in Oklahoma, because they like buying some of our wind. It lowers the overall cost of energy.

But you can't rely on it 100%. There's no doubt about it. That's why people have just had their head in the sand in states like California when they're like, oh, well, we don't need natural gas or coal. And they're finding themselves in a world of hurt where Oklahoma was always like, no, we love natural gas and coal, and we're fine with wind, too. It all has to work together.

Tell me about regulations, red tape. I was reading that you call yourself a one-call state. What does that mean, and how much easier would you say it is to get things done in Oklahoma compared to, like, you know, my home state of California?

Yeah, well, I mean, we're first off Oklahoma's dead center located in the middle US. So for distribution purposes, I tell companies in Europe and Asia, if you're looking for a US presence, you got to you got to look at Oklahoma to set up shop. We're the 28th largest state population wise. So we're, you know, a good size state.

Oklahoma City is now the 20th largest city in the country. And so we've got everything that you need. And but yet we're a flat organization is what I say. I said, you can get the governor on the phone. I can get the presidents of the universities. I can get the presidents of the career techs. We can design these programs.

the Secretary of Energy and Environment. We're all going to be here helping you grow. We're not going to be playing politics. We're all here to make Oklahoma top 10. And that's my vision. And as a leader of the executive branch, that's what I push through the organization. I come from the business world and I understand that the need for one message

And so that's what I mean by a one-call state that, hey, you can get the governor on the phone and we're going to try harder and you can be a big fish in a small pond. And if you go to bigger states like California, you probably are going to get lost in the shuffle and you don't really mean anything to them. But you can really make a difference in Oklahoma.

I imagine all of this means you have a pretty good, solid understanding of the international landscape as far as the national security issues as well for the United States. In mining and refining our own critical minerals, I just wonder, in your opinion, how far are we behind a country like China in this endeavor?

Yeah. I mean, it's how far behind, you know, that's hard to say, but you're exactly right. I mean, if you'll go back, I wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. It's probably been over a year ago now, a couple years ago, talking about the need for a...

stockpile of rare earth minerals like we do with oil and natural gas because it is critical to our national defense if there is some kind of conflict with China. And so cobalt, nickel, lithium,

All those go into everything from cell phones to fighter jets. And we saw a little bit of that with, I think, COVID opened everybody's eyes to the chip shortage and the reason we should reshore this. And so both President Trump and President Biden both have made this a challenge.

have made this a priority to bring this back closer to home. And so really it's a bipartisan issue, this national security deal. And I think Oklahoma's leading the way and we're making some moves. I mean, and I think Trump's tariffs, I mean, he's putting pressure, he's talking about this, he's talking about bringing things closer to home.

He's putting pressure on a lot of people, which is just kind of playing into the fact, or at least he's bringing awareness to the situation. And if it's I think the U.S. is winning these ties now on where these people are going to be producing the stuff.

Oklahoma is drawing all these companies in. And like we already said, you guys might not be home to all the deposits in the United States. Where are you looking at? Where would you tell our listeners that some of these minerals might be mined in North America, in the United States, that we're maybe not tapping into just as of yet? I see the map, the USGS map. It's got a lot of stuff out west along the Rocky Mountains. I mean, should we expect to see more ventures trying to mine all that?

That's right. I think Arkansas, they found some discoveries in Arkansas. And then obviously some of the federal lands out in Utah and Colorado and even Texas had some different deposits. But you're exactly right. And that's the thing that really bothered me about the talking points from the left is, you know, if they wanted to move and transition and they want more batteries and this kind of stuff,

but then they won't allow mining. And so you can't have it both ways. And so we really need to look at this permitting to allow

mining to go on on federal lands. And so again, don't want to be too critical of the previous administration, but they were really shutting this stuff down, making it very, very difficult to access federal lands and allow the innovation of American companies to meet the needs of Americans. And so that's where the free market, you have to either believe in that or not, that companies are trying to do the right thing. They're trying to take care of their customers. They're trying to take care of their employees.

They're trying to, of course, they're trying to earn a profit. But that's how this whole system works. And when you try to have too much government regulation, it just stifens everything. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy, host of the Trey Gowdy Podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com.

Hey, it's Kennedy, and I am here to save your 4th of July. Our special episode live from Langans in New York City drops this Wednesday. I'm going to be joined by Rosanna Scotto, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Emily Campagno, and Jimmy Fela. Listen and follow at foxnewspodcast.com. This is Tevi Troy with your Fox News commentary coming up.

testimony and closing arguments are complete it's time for a jury to determine if hip-hop mogul sean diddy combs is guilty or innocent of federal charges that include racketeering and sex trafficking last september combs was arrested and indicted in new york's southern district since then a request to set bail was denied as was an attempt to postpone his trial

Defense attorney Mark Agnifilo, speaking outside federal court before the trial began, said Combs forced nothing on anyone. This was a 10-year relationship. There's no coercion. There's no crime. There's basically just...

You know, someone who brought a civil case and now is finding themselves as a witness in a criminal case. And we're going to fight this case with everything we have, as is he. This case has a lot of interested people offering their opinions on how a jury might decide and what may happen afterward if he's found guilty. A question about a potential pardon was recently put to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

I don't know. I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me, it wouldn't have any impact on me. Before that even becomes a consideration, 12 New Yorkers will review what they've heard over more than the past month

with Combs' fate squarely in their hands. Obviously, as we know, it's a very, very serious case. C.B. Cotton is a national correspondent for Fox News who's been covering this trial both inside and outside the courtroom. Sean Diddy Combs faces five total counts

Count one, racketeering conspiracy, what some would say the most serious charge. Count two, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. Count three, transportation to engage in prostitution. Count four, another sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. And count five, transportation to engage in prostitution. So the allegations...

on their face are very, extremely serious in nature. And the trial has detailed what prosecutors say was a decade-long scheme by Sean Diddy Combs and his inner circle to run a criminal enterprise and fuel Diddy's sexual desires. That is their main argument. And for the past several weeks, jurors have heard...

extremely graphic and explicit details that prosecutors say they uncovered in the rapper's personal life. At the start of the trial, I've been covering it since the very beginning. At the start of the trial, I saw a lot more reaction from jurors as they were

I watched prosecutors, you know, walk them through explicit text messages. I saw a lot more reaction as they listened to really emotional and graphic witness testimony. But now that we've come to the very end, I think their reactions are a lot more muted. They've become a little bit desensitized to some of the evidence both sides are presenting in this case. And in addition to their emotions being more muted at this point, I think

I can tell you, Gurnall, that some of these jurors are, I think they're taking their jobs very seriously, as they should. Since the jury is right now the most important part of this because 12 people are going to have to make this decision, how have they reacted to the lawyers, their opinions?

for lack of a better word, histrionics, what they've presented, how they've presented it. Have they reacted to any confrontational questioning that they have put towards witnesses, especially when you talk about the prosecution putting up Cassie Ventura, Kid Cudi, and then the defense has to cross-examine them. How have they reacted to those?

So prosecutors called a total of 34 witnesses, ranging from Diddy's ex-girlfriends to former employees. And then there have been a slew of summary witnesses who have testified to the nitty gritties about court record or about bank records, financial records. But it's the witnesses, the ex-girlfriends and the former employees who testified

who prosecutors used to paint their arguments that Diddy, you know, created a sex crime ring and used threats and intimidation to fuel it and to fuel his sexual desires. And they've alleged that Diddy would have these violent outbursts anytime he was told no or anytime someone pushed back.

So, you know, there have been several witnesses who have gotten quite emotional on the witness stand, one of them being Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, an R&B singer. She was in an 11-year relationship with the rapper. And some of her allegations are, you know, she alleges sexual violence, domestic violence, and, you know,

And, you know, you could see that jurors were really focused on on what she had to say, and they were really absorbing and taking in her emotions. She broke down in tears several times on the witness stand. And when she was cross examined by defense attorneys, she.

One thing I noted is that they didn't question the domestic violence. And in closing arguments, the defense attorney said, we own the domestic violence. We don't – we admit that Diddy did domestic violence. He's not guilty of sex trafficking. So I sense that defense attorneys took –

great care in how they approached Cassie Ventura. But there are other accusers who took to the witness stand. One former employee who testified under the pseudonym Mia. And she also alleged she was never in a relationship. She said she was never in a relationship with Diddy. She simply worked under him. But she also alleged sexual violence at the hands of the rapper. And when she was cross-examined, defense attorneys appeared to

you know, be more tough with their questions on her. And they tried to suggest to jurors that she changed her story over time. And they tried to suggest to jurors that any sexual encounter she may have had with Diddy, they tried to suggest they were consensual. And you can tell that when they were cross-examining her and a few other witnesses who they were more, in my opinion, more tough with...

Jurors are really listening for how these witnesses respond. They're taking the job extremely seriously because with these allegations, if Diddy is convicted on the most serious among them, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. There are some who say that the prosecution has overreached with their charges. Yeah, domestic violence is one thing. Sex trafficking is

completely another thing. And the defense has been holding true, even asking for mistrials in the midst of all of this. This is why I believe this trial, whatever the outcome is, it's going to be studied by legal experts for years to come. So...

prosecutors in their closing arguments this past week, they went count by count to really lay out their case to jurors to argue why they believe Diddy is guilty of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution. And then the defense the following day and its closing arguments, they right at the top of their—

of its closing arguments, you know, there is a defense attorney who led them, defense attorney Mark Agnifilo. He said, if Diddy had been charged with domestic violence, he would have pled guilty. And that was a stunning moment for me as a journalist to listen to. You know, there are just moments in a trial that take you back as a journalist and you just, they stick in your head forever. Sure. And so he said to the jurors,

If Diddy had been charged with domestic violence, he would have pled guilty. But that's not what he's charged with. He's charged with racketeering conspiracy. And then he proceeded to lay out his case. And during certain moments of his closing arguments, he appeared to mock the evidence in the trial. He said, you know,

The crime scene is our client's bedroom. They wrapped crime scene tape around a bedroom. And he said he other other pieces of evidence, as we know, have been baby oil, lubricant, guns, weapons. The defense attorney said, yes.

And he said it sort of flippant, but he said, thank God the streets of America were saved from AstroGlide. I mean, that was the tone that he took during to deliver the closing arguments. And however you view his argument, these are things that he is saying to suggest to jurors.

that there was an overcharge in this case. So that is their stance, and prosecutors get the final word with their rebuttal. And prosecutors followed up to argue and say, Diddy got away with this for years and years, and this is because of fame and money, but you all have an opportunity to give some accountability in this case. So both sides clearly have a very different lens on,

on the premise of these allegations, but it's definitely been interesting to see the different sides and how each side tries to explain it. We've seen trials of this magnitude before. I bring up Harvey Weinstein in situations like this. Is there the expectation that you've heard from people who are interested or maybe experts you've talked to that

This trial, as far as the dangers of Hollywood, the dangers of fame, is it going to move the needle? Should it go one way or the other? What are experts telling you? It's going to set the tone and it's going to set the parameters of what big Hollywood names should be.

And shouldn't be concerned about. You know, I also should mention that with prosecutors argument, it's that Diddy and his inner circle created a criminal enterprise to fuel his sexual desires and coerce and traffic women into freak offs, which prosecutors say were these drug fueled sex parties with male escorts while Diddy watched.

Prosecutors alleged that he had these freak offs over a 10 year period with his ex-girlfriends. And they alleged that the sex parties, there were instances where they were not consensual and the women were coerced or threatened with violence.

Whereas the defense says prosecutors are criminalizing a man's private bedroom. They argue that prosecutors are criminalizing a private sex life. So no matter how you view this, how you view the sexual activity that is mentioned in this trial, the outcome of it, it will certainly send a message to other people in Hollywood on what could happen if,

if your personal life involves any of this. So I think there is a sense that the outcome and just the trial itself is going to reverberate for years to come.

The wait will begin once the judge instructs the jury, then hands them the case. We don't know how long their deliberations will take, but we will be interested in the outcome. C.B. Cotton is a national correspondent for Fox News. Thank you for your coverage of the trial. Thank you for joining us on the Fox News Rundown. Thanks so much for having me, Colonel.

Here's a look at the week ahead. Monday, Tesla Cybertruck and Model Y production starts a week-long break. It's for maintenance of production lines. Tuesday, it's the start of a new month, and there are a lot of new laws taking effect across the country. Here are a few. Minimum wage increases in several states, changes to the process to get a concealed weapons permit in Colorado, and Vermont employers must include salary ranges in job postings.

Wednesday, it's deadline day. Last chance to file a claim in a class action lawsuit settlement with Apple for claims Siri recorded users without their consent. Thursday, Wall Street closes a little early for the day ahead of the Independence Day holiday.

Friday, it's the 4th of July, a federal holiday to celebrate the ratification of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But of course, many of us just use it to go to parades, relax, barbecue and watch some fireworks. And that's a look at your week ahead. I'm Anna Eliopoulos, Fox News. Thanks for listening. Do you like true crime podcasts? If so, check out Unsolved with James Patterson.

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It's time for your Fox News Commentary. -Tebby Troy. -What's on your mind? -Ben Weinberg died 10 years ago this week, but his legacy still looms large. Weinberg, a pundit, demographer, and political operative, reshaped Washington and America through his farsighted thinking and writing. He constantly told his once-beloved Democrats to stop drifting further and further to the left. They just as steadfastly refused to listen, with the ramifications still being felt today.

Wattenberg's career was built on the mastery of data. Long before Google, he immersed himself in facts and figures, poring over government reports and academic journals. He knew crime rates, birth rates, and welfare trends in an age when there was no internet to provide an answer via a few keyboard strokes.

He then used that data to explain, inform, predict, and entertain. Wattenberg was born in the Bronx in 1933. After graduating from Hobart College and serving in the Air Force, he was working in publishing when he came up with the idea of describing America using data as the narrative device. The resulting book, This USA, written with former Census head Richard Scammon, led to Wattenberg's appointment as a Lyndon Johnson speechwriter.

Weinberg also worked on the presidential campaigns of moderate Democrat Henry "Scoop" Jackson in 1972 and 1976. Weinberg wrote many important books, including The Real Majority, which used census data to show that despite the media emphasis on civil strife in the 1960s, the real majority in America was middle class, middle-aged, middle-minded, un-young, un-poor, and un-black.

According to Wattenberg, the median voter was not a protesting radical, but a middle-aged housewife from Dayton, Ohio. This insight reportedly inspired President Richard Nixon's notion of the silent majority and has remained an important element of American politics to this very day.

Wattenberg continued to influence presidents, earning the nickname of Ronald Reagan's favorite Democrat in the 1980s and receiving a much-discussed, almost hour-long phone call from President Bill Clinton in reaction to Wattenberg's 1996 book, Values Matter Most.

Numbers guided Wattenberg's insights throughout his career. In The Birthed Earth, he argued that contrary to conventional wisdom, underpopulation rather than overpopulation threatened the prosperity and political influence of Western nations. This belief made him an unabashed supporter of legal immigration.

In "The Good News Is The Bad News Is Wrong," Wattenberg used statistics to make the case for optimism, a corrective that would still be helpful today. He also used numbers to inform his longstanding syndicated newspaper column and his TV appearances, including his show "Think Tank," in which 17 seasons of informed panel discussions benefited from the smart rule: no journalists, no politicians, no kidding.

Wattenberg called his approach to punditry data journalism. To master the numbers, he developed relationships with experts across Washington. His Rolodex, yes, he had one, was filled with the names of non-famous but data-deep experts who could walk him through their latest reports and help him identify vital trends in revealing developments. Wattenberg's immersion in the numbers strengthened his inveterate optimism, patriotism, and concerns with the trajectory of the Democratic Party.

He used data to bring home America's bright future and consistently advised that the more optimistic presidential candidate would win elections. Good advice that still stands today. I'm Tevi Troy for Fox News.

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