Diddy Trial Highlights From 15th Day of Testimony

Diddy's guardian angel appeared at his federal trial Tuesday ... but, instead of getting all the charges dropped, he may have helped the prosecution's case.

Day 15 of testimony in Diddy's federal sex trafficking case took place ... and, Eddy Garcia -- the former security supervisor at the InterContinental in Century City, Los Angeles -- testified about an alleged payout he and his colleagues received to bury the infamous Cassie beating tape.

As we've told you ... Eddy worked at the hotel back in 2016 -- and, on the same day cameras captured Diddy beating up Cassie, he says he was approached by Diddy's right-hand woman, Kristina Khorram, who wanted to get the tape.

Garcia says he told her to talk to his supervisor or subpoena him, and he didn't hand it over immediately ... but, later, he says he got a call from Puffy who asked what Eddy could do to help him.

Eddy talked to his supervisor -- a guy named Bill Medrano -- and, Eddy says Bill told him to go to Diddy's people with an offer to purchase the recording for $50K.

Garcia says Diddy readily agreed ... calling Eddy his "angel" in the process -- and, Eddy went to a high-rise in West L.A. with the tape.

Garcia says Diddy wanted to make sure he received the only version of the tape in existence, and, after Garcia assured him it was, Garcia says Diddy made him sign an NDA before handing over $100K. Eddy says he gave $50K to Medrano, took $30K for himself and gave another $20K to a fellow security officer.

Worth noting ... the government ultimately ended up with the tape anyway -- even though Garcia says he thought he was giving Diddy the only version. How the prosecution got the vid is unclear at this time.