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Just after the announcement of Jussie Smollett 's charge on 16 counts, Cook County attorney, Kim Foxx, told his high representative that Smollett was a "celebrity who had lied to the police "and that the number of indictments he was facing was excessive, he said. obtained by the Chicago Tribune show.
"Sooo … … I'm challenged, but when people accuse us of overloading business … 16 accounts on class 4 (crime) becomes Exhibit A," Foxx said in a text message to Joseph Magats , his main assistant, March 8th.
Foxx continued in these texts with Magats to compare Smollett's case with the imminent impeachment of R & B singer R. Kelly on 10 aggravated sexual abuse charges.
"Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts of accusation. Washed celebrity who lied to the cops, 16 (accounts), "she wrote." … This is not because we can charge something we should do it. "
Smollett, who is African-American and openly gay, had been indicted for 16 counts of disorderly behavior on indictments for which he had organized a hate crime against himself. Foxx's office unleashed a storm of protest after all charges were dropped abruptly less than three weeks later, at a court hearing whose reporters only knew about it at the last minute.
Late Tuesday night, Foxx's office released thousands of internal texts and emails about the Smollett case in response to Tribune's public record requests.
However, the office refused internal requests regarding his internal records, claiming that he had done so because the judge who presided over the case had agreed to seal the court's public record a few moments after that the prosecutors had abandoned all the charges. The Chicago Police Service has also refused requests for internal documents from public documents for the same reasons.
The majority of documents released Tuesday do not deal with the merits of the case and hardly indicate why prosecutors decided to dismiss the charges so soon after they were laid.
But they show that the bureau was largely caught off guard by the massive media reaction to its own overthrow.
The texts between senior prosecutors and his communications office show that it is difficult to coordinate their messages and are unnecessarily trying to calm the heated controversy.
"I would have liked to be able to anticipate the magnitude of this response and plan a little better!", Said the Deputy Attorney General, Prosecutor in charge of the high-profile case, to Maga, after having dropped the charges.
"There is really no planning for that," Magats replied. "It's the right decision."
"I agree and absolutely respect the decision," said Lanier.
In addition, it appears that the prosecutor's office warned the Chicago police a few moments before the charges were dropped, as the journalists were already gathered in the courtroom – a journalist from the Smollett legal team informed her .
"It seems that Jussie's press officer may have warned the press," Lanier told three spokespeople that morning.
Shortly after, a spokesperson responded by texting that she had warned a spokeswoman of the police department who would inform the Supt. Eddie Johnson.
About 10 minutes later, Foxx sent a text message to Magats: Eddie had just called. (He) needed to know how to answer questions from the press.
Foxx told Johnson that Smollett's charges had been dropped since he had done his community service and handed his $ 10,000 bond to the city.
"He seemed pleased with the explanation," Foxx told Magats.
However, Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a press conference that morning, criticizing the decision – "a miscarriage of justice," said the mayor.
Foxx itself withdrew from the record in February after having contact with one of Smollett's relatives at the start of the investigation. However, Foxx's office has since indicated that it has only withdrawn from the file informally, as a real challenge would have forced all of its office to withdraw and request the appointment of one. special prosecutor.
When asked why the state's attorney had continued to communicate about the case after her withdrawal, a spokeswoman said Tuesday night on behalf of Foxx that "there is no such thing as". she had contacted Magats only to "discuss the review of her office's policies to ensure the consistency of our charges and our proper use". responsible for billing. "
Smollett was found at the center of a storm in international media after recounting being the victim of an attack on January 29 by two people who had shouted insults, had him hit and had put the rope in his neck. The police first dealt with the hate crime incident, but focused on Smollett after two brothers, believed to be his attackers, told the investigators that Smollett had paid them $ 3,500 for organize the attack, with a promise of 500 additional dollars thereafter.
The decision to drop the lawsuit has sparked strong criticism. The administration of outgoing mayor Rahm Emanuel filed a lawsuit to force Smollett to reimburse Chicago for the additional $ 130 million spent by the police to investigate the alleged hoax, although all charges against the actor of Empire "have been abandoned.
Foxx had to face increasing pressure to explain in more detail why the pursuit of Smollett was abandoned so quickly. In a Tribune editorial, she dismissed the initial position of her office that the case was solid, writing that they were not certain of a conviction, but she was not sure. gave no details.
At his request, Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard agreed last week to investigate the Bureau's handling of the Smollett case.
Twitter @ crepe
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