Special Prosecutor Makes Major Announcement About Jussie Smollett Case
A special prosecutor in Chicago said Monday that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her office abused their discretion in the case against actor Jussie Smollett, but did nothing criminal.
In a statement on the conclusions of his investigation, special prosecutor Dan Webb sharply criticized the handling of the Smollett case by Foxx and her assistant prosecutors, saying their handling was marked by disarray and misleading statements.
In March last year, Foxx’s office surprised and angered many in Chicago by dropping charges that accused the former “Empire” actor of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself.
Smollett is still adamant that the attack was real and wasn’t a publicity hoax.
Webb’s statement said his investigation “did not develop evidence that would support any criminal charges against State’s Attorney Foxx or any individual working at [her office].”
But it added, it “did develop evidence that establishes substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures” in how it handled the Smollett matter.
Special Prosecutor Dan Webb has finished investigation into Kim Foxx and her handling of the Jussie Smollett case.
Evidence was found “that establishes substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures.”
No evidence of criminal activity. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/KRZWJrrCcI
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) August 17, 2020
Webb’s findings announced Monday came after charges were restored against Smollett by the same special prosecutor in February.
Webb said at the time that dropping the charges against Smollett was unjustified, including because the evidence against Smollett seemed overwhelming and because he was not required to admit that the attack was a hoax.
One of the focuses of Webb’s inquiry was about whether Foxx acted improperly by speaking to a Smollett relative and a onetime aide of former first lady Michelle Obama before the charges were dropped, or by weighing in on the case after recusing herself.
Foxx is the first black woman to hold Chicago’s top law enforcement job.
She defeated her primary opponents earlier this year even as they made her handling of the Smollett case central to their campaigns. In overwhelmingly Democratic Chicago, the primary invariably determines who wins the general election.
Charging documents refiled by Webb in February accuse the black, openly gay actor of making a false police report in claiming two men attacked him early on Jan. 29, 2019, in downtown Chicago, shouting slurs and looping a rope around his neck.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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