Sean “Diddy” Combs tried to contact potential witnesses and sway public opinion from prison in an attempt to sway potential jurors for his upcoming sex-trafficking trial, prosecutors have alleged in a court filing urging a judge to throw out the latest his bail application.

The government’s charges were made in a Manhattan federal court late on Friday, which opposes the music mogul’s latest $US50 million ($61.1 million) bail proposal. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.

Prosecutors wrote that a review of recorded jail calls by Combs shows that he asked family members to contact potential victims and witnesses and urged them to create “stories” to sway the jury. They say he also encouraged marketing strategies to influence public opinion.

“The defendant has repeatedly shown — even while in custody — that he will blatantly and repeatedly break the rules to improperly affect the outcome of his case. The defendant has shown, in other words, that he cannot be trusted to follow the rules or conditions,” prosecutors wrote in a redacted filing.

Prosecutors wrote that it could be inferred from his behavior that Combs wanted to blackmail victims and witnesses into silence or providing testimony helpful to his defense.

Attorneys for Combs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Prosecutors said Combs, 55, began breaking the rules almost as soon as he was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after his September arrest.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with the help of a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

Two judges concluded that he is a danger to the community and a flight risk.

His lawyers recently made a third bail request after two previous attempts were rejected, including a $50 million bail proposal.

In the motion, they cited changed circumstances, including new evidence, that they said would make it sensible to release Combs so he can better prepare for his May 5 trial.

But prosecutors said defense attorneys crafted their latest bail proposal using some evidence prosecutors turned over and that the new material was already known to defense attorneys when they filed earlier bail applications.

In their presentation to a judge, prosecutors said Combs’ behavior in prison shows he needs to stay locked up.

For example, they said, Combs enlisted family members to plan and run a social media campaign around his birthday “with the intent of influencing the potential jury in this criminal proceeding.”

He encouraged his children to post a video on their social media accounts showing them gathered to celebrate his birthday, they said.

He later monitored reviews, including public involvement, from jail and “explicitly discussed with his family how to ensure that the video had the desired effect on potential jurors in this case,” they said.

The government also argued that Combs, during other calls, made clear his intention to anonymously release information he believed would help him defend himself against the charges.

“Defendant’s efforts to obstruct the integrity of this proceeding also include tireless efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse, who could provide powerful testimony against him,” prosecutors wrote.