Judge will allow cameras in court room for Jussie Smollett’s hearing on Thursday.— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 12, 2019
His legal team says they welcome cameras as a counter to the “misinformation” leaked to media.
Defense wants public to see the evidence (or lack thereof). @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/dhORIxXLkp
— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 12, 2019
ral·ly— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) March 14, 2019
/หralฤ/
1. a mass meeting of people making a political protest or showing support for a cause.
"a rally attended by around 100,000 people"
.... Or seven, apparently. https://t.co/Qu57ziFICs
His lawyers must be really freaking out to get Obama's people involved. Wanting to sweep it under the rug.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 16, 2019
Talk about privilege. ๐
"The top prosecutor in Cook County, Ill., suggested Chicago police turn over their investigation into an alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett to the FBI at the urging of a former aide to former first lady Michelle Obama, USA Today reported Thursday."https://t.co/eOdeIIflMA— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 15, 2019
The Chicago Tribune
written by Megan Crepeau, Jeremy Gorner
Thursday March 14, 2019
After being approached by a politically connected lawyer, State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx asked Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to turn over the investigation of Jussie Smollett’s reported attack to the FBI, according to communications provided to the Tribune.
Foxx reached out to Johnson after Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, emailed Foxx saying the actor’s family had unspecified “concerns about the investigation.” Tchen, a close friend of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s wife, said she was acting on behalf of the “Empire” actor and his family. A relative later exchanged texts with Foxx.
The exchanges began Feb. 1, three days after Smollett claimed two men approached him near his Streeterville apartment building, yelled racist and homophobic slurs, hit him and put a noose after his neck. It would still be 2½ weeks before he was charged with making the story up, but some media outlets were already starting to question the actor’s account, citing unnamed police sources.
“Spoke to the Superintendent Johnson,” Foxx emailed Tchen back on Feb. 1. “I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation.”
The same day, Foxx texted with Smollett’s relative, whose name was blacked out in copies released by her office.
“Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask,” Foxx wrote. “Trying to figure out logistics. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Omg this would be a huge victory,” the relative replied. ๐
“I make no guarantees, but I’m trying,” Foxx wrote back.
Kiera Ellis, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office, said Smollett’s relative was specifically concerned about leaks to the media that purportedly came from the Police Department.
“When she initially engaged in the communications, Mr. Smollett was still believed to be the victim of the crime,” Ellis said. “As the investigation started to change and it became a possibility that he could actually be a suspect, that is when she made the decision (to recuse herself).”
It is not uncommon for people to approach Foxx with information or concerns about cases, and it is “fairly typical” for her to contact Johnson directly to request updates or get information, Ellis said.
Tchen could not be reached for comment.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi could not verify whether Johnson and Foxx discussed turning the case over to federal agents and refused to ask the superintendent about it.
But Guglielmi noted that the FBI had been working on the case with Chicago police from the very beginning because it was reported as a hate crime. Also, a week earlier, a letter addressed to Smollett at the “Empire” studio made racial and homophobic threats against the actor — a federal offense.
Whether Foxx’s communication to Johnson was proper depends on her motivation for making the request, said Robert Loeb, a veteran attorney who also teaches at DePaul University College of Law.
“If she’s doing a favor for somebody with some influence, that would be unprofessional and she should be criticized,” he said. “If she was trying to clean up a mess that had compromised even her own office and a clean investigation from the FBI would be in the interest of truth, then what she did is laudable.”
The released texts between Foxx and the relative stop on Feb. 13, the same day a memo was sent out by Foxx’s chief ethics officer, April Perry, informing staff that Foxx “is recused” from the Smollett investigation. It did not say why. First Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Magats, the second highest-ranking official in the office, was placed in charge of the investigation.
Her recusal was not publicly announced until Feb. 19, the day before charges were filed against Smollett alleging he made up the whole story.
Foxx’s office said she recused herself “out of an abundance of caution” because she had conversations with one of Smollett’s relatives after he reported the incident, and then acted as a go-between with Chicago police.
Foxx’s office did not elaborate on those conversations with the relative, bringing a jab from Anita Alvarez, the former state’s attorney handily defeated by Foxx in 2016.
“Maybe I should have just recused myself from the difficult cases that came across my desk when I was state’s attorney,” she posted on Facebook. “I was under the impression that when the voters elected me and I took my oath of office it meant I had to do my job.”
— John Kass (@John_Kass) March 15, 2019Do real victims of real crime in Chicago, crimes with real blood & real pain-not #JussieSmollettHoax--get a secret "OMG" text moment with chief prosecutor Kim Foxx? No. It helps to have supreme #Obama #Rahm connections. the Chicago Way. My column: https://t.co/rZGqWFjv4d
All Kim Foxx had to say was, “It’s under investigation. I can’t have this conversation.”— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) March 16, 2019
Instead, she lobbied Chicago's top cop to push the Jussie Smollett case over to the FBI, writes columnist @John_Kass. https://t.co/eB0CllGK2s
Wow ๐ฆ "She lobbied Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to drop the Smollett case and push it over to the FBI."— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 17, 2019
This makes #Smollett look guilty as hell. Jussie and his lawyers adamantly claimed he was innocent. They wouldn't need to bribe authorities if he was innocent.
The Chicago Tribune
written by John Kass
Friday March 15, 2019
As TV actor and want-to-be-victim Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty on Thursday to staging his very own fake hate crime, I thought about someone else on trial in this case:
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
The state’s attorney hasn’t been charged with anything and won’t be. She doesn’t have a formal role in the Smollett fake-hate-crime case, now that she’s recused herself owing to a conflict of interest.
But she stands in the court of public opinion after a remarkable Tribune story by reporters Megan Crepeau and Jeremy Gorner.
It is an account of how Foxx was contacted in the Smollett case by a politically connected lawyer close to Chicago’s most prominent political families, the Obamas and Emanuels.
That lawyer, Tina Tchen, was chief of staff for former first lady Michelle Obama, and she is a friend of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s wife, Amy Rule. Tchen was apparently a go-between for someone in the Smollett family.
There was literally an “omg” moment in the texts, because Foxx did what was asked of her:
She lobbied Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to drop the Smollett case and push it over to the FBI. ๐
She did so as Smollett’s heroic story — that he was the victim of a hate crime committed by supporters of President Donald Trump — was being unraveled by Chicago detectives.
So how should Foxx plead on this one?
Does she plead stupidity, and say she was blinded by political lights, by someone close to the Obamas, and say she lost her way and would like to beg mercy?
Would Foxx ever give a Chicago police officer that kind of break?
No. Most cops would laugh if you asked them that.
“Spoke to the Superintendent Johnson,” Foxx said in an email to Tchen on Feb. 1 obtained by reporters. “I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation.”
That day, Foxx texted a Smollett relative.
“Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask,” Foxx wrote. “Trying to figure out logistics. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Omg this would be a huge victory,” the Smollett relative replied.
“I make no guarantees, but I’m trying,” Foxx replied.
“I understand,” the Smollett relative typed. “I appreciate the effort.”
Omg.
Omg, Kim Foxx, where do I go with this?
It’s easy.
People reach out all the time in politics. You’ve got a guy who’s got a guy, that’s the Chicago Way.
It just so happened that there was another Tribune story, this one with Ald. Danny Solis, 25th, talking while wired up by the feds to Victor “Whispering Vic” Reyes, a lobbyist who worked for the Daleys.
Whispering Vic wanted city business, and wanted Solis to get him some, in exchange for political fundraising.
“How ’bout anything, Danny?” Reyes was quoted as saying on an FBI wire. “How ’bout anything? Not just the big one. How about one f------ thing?”
All that was missing was Solis saying, “It’s Chinatown, Vic. It’s Chinatown.”
Foxx shouldn’t have had any contact with Tchen or the Smollett family. She’s the prosecutor for Cook County. All she had to say was, “It’s under investigation. I can’t have this conversation.”
But she did. Omg.
Foxx is the political protegee of Toni Preckwinkle, boss of the Cook County Democratic Party and president of the County Board, and a candidate for mayor of Chicago. Preckwinkle should be asked about this, as should her opponent, former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot.
Now for every heater case that comes anywhere near Foxx, cops and taxpayers will have to wonder: Is there an omg moment in this one too?
Foxx was so badly burned here that her office is trying to flip things around to say that Smollett’s family was concerned about leaks to the media from police.
“When she initially engaged in the communications, Mr. Smollett was still believed to be the victim of the crime,” Foxx spokeswoman Kiera Ellis told the Tribune. “As the investigation started to change and it became a possibility that he could actually be a suspect, that is when she made the decision (to recuse herself).”
You mean, Smollett became a suspect when the heroic story he told to his ABC media cheerleader Robin Roberts began to fall apart?
That story of how he fought off those two tough Trump supporters (who turned out to be friendly Nigerian bodybuilders) who allegedly put the rope around his neck? How he fought them off with a cellphone in one hand and a tuna sandwich in the other, and both the phone and the sandwich survived?
That story?
You know who doesn’t get to call Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and text her and have omg moments?
The victims of real crimes, not fake ones. Crimes with real blood and real pain, floating face down in Chicago’s river of violence.
Like 1-year-old Dejon Irving, shot in the gang wars just about the time Smollett wanted to become a hero.
Or what of the families torn up when the grandfather or grandmother die, weeks, sometimes months, after being attacked in street robberies that are forgotten? Or the mothers and fathers who have lost their sons and daughters to killers who are never brought to justice?
They don’t get the Kim Foxx omg moment, but they’re not stars, like Jussie Smollett.
— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) February 22, 2019Ooooh dear Lord. You keep getting scammed. You would let him steal your inheritance. He's like a spell on you.
Tearful Jussie Smollett apologizes to 'Empire' cast: 'I swear to God, I did not do this'. https://t.co/Bu5RNCSYQp
You call this bending the truth? After making bail yesterday he went back to #EmpireFox set and told his colleagues I'm sorry for everything I'm innocent. I swear I didn't do it.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) February 23, 2019
Jussie Smollett FULL Interview on attack by 2 MAGA White Supremacist at 2amhttps://t.co/Wpr21PStnG
Jussie Smollett: "I'm The Gay Tupac"
FULL @ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Chicago police Superintendent speaks with @RobinRoberts about the Jussie Smollett investigation. https://t.co/G4P92ohuFL pic.twitter.com/QnpgfJ4FQh— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 25, 2019
The 16-count grand jury indictment on #JussieSmollett blindsided a lot of people including #Smollett’s legal team. SA Kim Foxx’s office didn’t tell anyone. Even @Chicago_Police weren’t aware of it.— Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) March 8, 2019
Here is the three-page, 16 count, Cook County grand jury indictment of #JussieSmollett pic.twitter.com/iGCEAdoUej— Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) March 8, 2019
Prior to this indictment #JussieSmollett’s lawyer Mark Geragos gave every indication he planned to fight the charges in court. It will be very interesting to see if he changes course. #Smollett could be looking at a lot of jail time.— Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) March 8, 2019
Sorry you feel that way. I'm not a White heterosexual. I'm a Hispanic educated gay female raised by a single mom who does support President Trump. I do support Capitalism & our sovereign nation.#MAGA wants ALL Americans to have equal opportunity pursuing prosperity, happiness.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
Watch the vicious smears against us by many people in the media and Hollywood celebrities.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
Now anyone wearing a MAGA hat or MAGA clothing or even mention we support President Trump gets punched, assaulted, property vandalized at home, school, work. The hate comes from the Left. https://t.co/mWtj2NTE4d
I was not making this shit up.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
The Media’s Credulous Response to the Jussie Smollett Case.https://t.co/1vl7MqXzlq pic.twitter.com/8wi0vkfYWv
Here's another more telling video compilation of the fake hate crime against us #MAGA supporters from #JussieSmollett media, and Hollywood celebrities that lasted for weeks. Nearly started a race war because of the masive lie repeatedly over and over.https://t.co/EmdrNAxms4— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
2 DOZEN Chicago detectives worked hard for Jussie who took attention away from REAL VICTIMS.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) February 23, 2019
"Stafford, the editor-in-chief of the LGBT Advocate publication, suggested that police officers conducted their investigation in way that would harm Smollett."https://t.co/JbvZdd1fLr
Mark Geragos, Jussie Smollett's attorney, on the media's coverage of Smollett and on his client being indicted on 16 felony counts: "What is happening here is, frankly, a media gang bang of this guy of unprecedented proportions." pic.twitter.com/THSPWB6LLn— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 9, 2019
Wow ๐ฆ so now he's saying the grand jury and the district attorney are conspiring with Chicago police and the media.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
Give us a break. For weeks, the media and celebrities did everything to make Trump supporters the evil villains and #JussieSmollett the victim saint.
Or— Dillon C Ⓥ (@Quasi___) March 9, 2019
....
The cops aren't telling the truth
The Grand Jury is a jury of Jussie Smollett's peers. The Attorney General presented the case with evidence to the judge and the jury.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
It was up the Grand Jury to decide if there was sufficient evidence to bring this case to an actual trial. They said overwhelmingly, yes.
The Grand Jury would be jury people that are regular folks like you and me.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
The grand jury has only returned an indictment, not a verdict.— Dillon C Ⓥ (@Quasi___) March 9, 2019
No evidence has been presented before a jury yet.
The Attorney General, representing the people, had to present evidence. That was the only way the Grand Jury could conclude this case does merit a trial.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
They don't just willie nillie make that decision. We are not a third world kangaroo court.
How can the grand jury conspire if they haven't even seen any evidence, they've only returned the indictments— Dillon C Ⓥ (@Quasi___) March 9, 2019
Here read this:— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 9, 2019
As with grand juries, preliminary hearings are meant to determine whether there is enough evidence, or probable cause, to indict a criminal suspect.https://t.co/HTKEZ5JWKZ
Youre completely wrong here.— Dillon C Ⓥ (@Quasi___) March 9, 2019
Leveling charges in an indictment is the exact opposite of a preliminary hearing.
A grand jury almost always returns indictments, as they did here, because exculpatory evidence isn't required from the prosecutors.https://t.co/OO4F0SLRcC
Yeah. Okay. Whatever. ๐ If Jussie were so innocent and there was no evidence to convict him, why is he getting important people in major legal trouble who put their careers on the line for him because he was trying to sweep this case under the rug?!
While over a dozen Chicago detectives were working hard to get #justiceforjussie FAKE HATE CRIME...— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 8, 2019
A 1-year-old boy was shot in the head and critically injured in Chicago Thursday night, according to police.https://t.co/dgdYNMIixb
Unbelievable over a dozen Chicago detectives working on #justiceforjussie hate crime case 24/7. Where all EVIDENCE lead back to Jussie Smollett and his Nigerian brothers GOOD FRIENDS.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 8, 2019
Video shows Jussie calmly walked into building with sandwich, didn't tell security to call 911. https://t.co/9NsBCwAEYJ
So #JussieSmollett defense team is making it look like the Nigerian brothers JUSSIE WAS GOOD FRIENDS WITH, conspired to attack him because they were homophobic.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 1, 2019
Not going to fly with jury because Jussie called them before attack and AFTER attack. Even rehearsed caught on video.
And furthermore, those people that worked with #JussieSmollett claiming the Nigerian brothers made homophobic slurs on the set of #EmpireFox are lying.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 1, 2019
If that were true, it would not have tolerated. They would have been fired by Lee Daniels no question.
Again if #JussieSmollett experienced a god awful racist homophobic attack with bleach thrown on him and a "rope" (which was a string) noose put around his neck WHY would Jussie call the Nigerian brothers RIGHT AFTER the attack before they left for Nigeria if they weren't friends?— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 1, 2019
AND the Nigerian brothers were GOOD FRIENDS with #JussieSmollett. Not mere acquaintances. So that "homophobia" defense is not going to fly with Jussie's peer on the jury panel.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 1, 2019
Sure with Jussie's friends who WISHED his attack was real to smear President and MAGA it's believable.
Watch his ABC GMA interview again. #JussieSmollett IDENTIFIED HIS ATTACKERS on national television. He knew those were the men.— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) March 1, 2019
So riddle me this, Jussie said he was attacked by White Supremacist? When he knew his attackers were his friends, the Nigerian brothers.
"So Jussie Smollett underwent a vicious beating by two attackers that apparently lasted less than 60 seconds, since that is the reported gap in surveillance footage between an image of him without a rope around his neck and an image of him with the rope."https://t.co/Wz2bY5RewU— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) February 5, 2019
#JussieSmollett committed a hate crime against the demographic he tried to frame, he would have put 2 innocent men behind bars while profiting off their suffering.— Economicbiclighter (@Economicbiclig1) March 2, 2019
UPDATE 3/27/19 at 5:04pm: I added tweets below.
Jussie Smollett getting away with a fake hate crime for being well connected. I swear the Left wants to turn America into a third world nation. None of the Democrats arguments regarding civil rights crime from here on out will have any substance. (emphasis mine)
Called it: State's atty said "she was dropping the case because Jussie would have only gotten community service if convicted and she said he has already performed community service so there is no point in prosecuting him."https://t.co/X5K0Mcocwb— Nate Madden (@NateOnTheHill) March 26, 2019
Cook County state's attorney office admits there was nothing wrong with evidence against Smollett. One official tells NYT 'We did not exonerate him.' Adds that 'We stand behind the charges' that they just dropped and sealed. https://t.co/JZyOYtbqod— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 26, 2019
Magats, the asst state's atty, said he saw no problems with the police investigation or the evidence against Smollett. The charges against Smollett were dropped in return for his agreement to do community service, he said, and for forfeiting his bond to the city of Chicago.— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) March 26, 2019
More from the asst state's attorney: "Here's the thing -- we work to prioritize violent crime and the drivers of violent crime. Public safety is our number one priority. I don't see Jussie Smollett as a threat to public safety."— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) March 26, 2019
"We stand behind the investigation, we stand behind the decision to charge him and we stand behind the charges in the case. The mere fact that it was disposed of in an alternative manner does not mean that there were any problems or infirmities in the case or the evidence."— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) March 26, 2019
"Do I think justice was served? No.": Chicago police superintendent blasts actor Jussie Smollett and prosecutors, says "city is still owed an apology" for dropping of charges https://t.co/2LfzxRb9k3 pic.twitter.com/QPzm41cA3a— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) March 26, 2019
Here is Jussie Smollett still claiming he's innocent. Total lie. Jussie has no remorse for what he did to our nation, and to real victims.
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