Jussie Smollett‘s team is preparing to fight the 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. From the start, there have been questions about the Chicago Police Department and now it appears appears State’s Attorney Kim Foxx may have had some concerns.
See Also: Complete Timeline Of Jussie Smollett Investigation
The Chicago Tribune reports, Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, sent text message to Foxx saying the family had “concerns about the investigation.” The messages began Feb. 1. See below:
“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.
“I make no guarantees, but I’m trying,” Foxx wrote back.
The relative was concerned about the constant leaks coming from the Chicago Police Department. Kiera Ellis, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office, said this in a statement, “When she initially engaged in the communications, Mr. Smollett was still believed to be the victim of the crime. 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).”
The Chicago Police Department has dropped the ball from the beginning with their handling of the case. Originally, a police spokesperson said there was no footage of the assailants. Then, hours later, there were two “persons of interest” on video. They also claimed the “Empire” actor “refused” to give the cops his phone, but he did give his phone records. Then the FBI reportedly said the Chicago police “overstated” their Smollett case.
Plus, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson appears to love the media. From Don Lemon to press conferences he has done to more chats with the media than Smollett. Back on Feb. 25, he flew all the way to “Good Morning America” to talk with Robin Roberts.
Last week, Smollett’s lawyer Mark Geragos, who also represented Colin Kaepernick, called out the Chicago Police Department.
“He hasn’t been given one stitch of discovery. There isn’t one police report,” Geragos said. “Your package just said he paid $3,500. I’ve got the texts. Those texts––and they conceded that the check and the texts were for training. It wasn’t to pay anything. So I don’t understand how it comes from.”
Geragos also challenged the idea that Smollett may have staged an attack because he wanted a higher salary for his “Empire” role.
“They have not talked to one person at Fox who has said he was dissatisfied with his money. They have not interviewed one person connected with the show ‘Empire; who says he was dissatisfied with his money,” Geragos said. “They are the ones that started their internal investigation about the leaks because all of the information that was being leaked was false.”
Additionally, Geragos accused the Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson of tainting the jury pool.
Watch below:
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