Clayton Howard — the former escort who is suing both Cassie and Diddy for  drugging, manipulating, and traumatizing him — tells TMZ he believes Cassie reveled in Diddy’s power when it came to getting what she wanted.

Take a listen to our interview with Clayton — who was identified as “Dave” during the music mogul’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial. He says there is a “different side” to Cassie that “embraced” Diddy’s power to manipulate him into their exotic sexual encounters.

This is why Clayton says he continued seeing Diddy and Cassie for nearly a decade. He says he was nervous the “Last Night” hitmaker could easily use his deep connections to retaliate against him … plus, he needed the cash.

And if you’re wondering why he didn’t file his civil suit against the ex-lovers earlier … Clayton said he did try. He accuses his attorney Tyrone Blackburn of stalling the lawsuit in order to protect Cassie’s reputation during the trial.

The former sex worker further addresses why he’s going after Cassie for monetary damages rather than criminal charges … telling us the U.S. attorney’s office is well aware that she was a co-conspirator with Diddy — but they only cared about getting Diddy.

He even accuses the government of not caring about male victims … saying it’s all about Diddy, Diddy, Diddy.

As for the rapper getting off on three of the more serious charges in his trial … Clayton gives us his raw thoughts — calling this an utter slap in the face to the #MeToo movement.

We’ve reached out to both Blackburn and Cassie’s lawyer for comment … so far, no word back.

We broke the news … Clayton sued Diddy and Cassie Thursday with some bombshell claims — including that she gave him and STD and forced him to have sex with her while she was menstruating.