A special prosecutor found that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx abused her discretionary authority by dropping charges against actor Jussie Smollett.
Special prosecutor Dan Webb, who was appointed by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael Toomin to investigate the handling of the case, announced multiple instances of abuse of authority but determined that Foxx’s conduct did not amount to criminal activity.
“As a result of this investigation, the OSP did develop evidence that establishes substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures by the CCSAO in prosecuting and resolving the Initial Smollett Case,” Webb said in a statement Monday.
Webb noted “a major failure of the operations” to drop the charges against Smollett, who allegedly faked a hake crime against himself and filed a false police report. Webb said the office repeatedly issued “false and/or misleading statements to the public” about the rationale behind dismissing the charges, Foxx’s recusal from the case, and her communication with Smollett’s family members.
“State’s Attorney Foxx learned by February 8, 2019 that Mr. Smollett had become a suspect in CPD’s investigation, yet she continued communicating with Ms. Smollett through February 13, 2019, including via five text messages and three phone calls. State’s Attorney Foxx then made false statements to the media claiming she ceased all communications with Ms. Smollett as soon as she learned that Mr. Smollett was a suspect in CPD’s investigation and no longer merely a victim,” the report read.
Police claimed Smollett, a former Empire actor who is black and gay, paid two people $3,500 dollars to perform a fraudulent hate crime against him, placing a rope around his neck and pouring bleach on him, because he was unsatisfied with his salary. He was also accused of sending a threatening letter to himself that forewarned a potential attack.
Smollett denied staging the incident.
