Just after news broke that
CHICAGO (Tribune News Service) — Just after news broke that « Empire » actor Jussie Smollett had been indicted on 16 felony counts, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx told her top deputy that Smollett was a « washed up celeb who lied to cops » and the number of felony counts he faced was excessive, communications obtained by the Chicago Tribune show.
« Sooo…… I’m recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases… 16 counts on a class 4 (felony) becomes exhibit A, » Foxx said in a text message to Joseph Magats, her top assistant, on March 8.
Foxx went on in those texts to Magats to compare Smollett’s case to the office’s pending indictment of R&B singer R. Kelly on 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
« Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16 (counts), » she wrote. « … Just because we can charge something doesn’t mean we should. »
Smollett, who is African American and openly gay, had been indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct on charges he staged a hate crime attack on himself. Foxx’s office created a firestorm of protest after abruptly dropping all the charges less than three weeks later at a court hearing that reporters only learned about at the last minute.
Late Tuesday, Foxx’s office made public thousands of internal texts and emails on the Smollett case in response to public-records requests by the Tribune.
The office, though, denied outright requests for its internal files, saying it did so because the judge presiding over the case had agreed to seal the public court file moments after prosecutors dropped all the charges. The Chicago Police Department has also denied public-records requests for its internal documents on the same grounds.
The majority of documents released Tuesday do not deal with the substance of the case and do little to illuminate why prosecutors decided to dismiss the charges so soon after bringing them.
