Kim Foxx: The woke Chicago DA who tried to help Jussie

Embattled actor Jussie Smollett nearly got away with staging his own assault when a Chicago District Attorney made an effort to help him and prosecutors dropped the initial charges.

Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx – at the behest of MeToo leader and former Michelle Obama aide Tina Tchen – liaised with the Empire star’s relatives and tried to persuade the FBI to assume the investigation days after the attack, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Foxx was working to get the federal agency involved because Smollett’s supporters were concerned his purported assault wouldn’t be taken seriously by local cops. 

The state attorney, who recused herself from the case against Smollett, later complained to her deputy that the new charges against the actor were too harsh and that ‘just because we can charge something doesn’t mean we should.’ The deputy reportedly replied that they would speak to colleagues who had taken over the case to ‘take a hard look’ at how they should charge the case. 

Smollett, 39, was originally charged with 16 counts of filing a false police report and faced up to 48 years behind bars for staging a racist, anti-gay attack in Chicago to bolster his career.

But the case took an unexpected turn when prosecutors dismissed the charges in exchange for the Empire actor forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service. 

When police still considered Smollett to be a victim of assault, Foxx lobbied for the case to be transferred to the FBI after Tchen, a friend of Smollett’s family, contacted her with ‘concerns’ about the local investigation, the Chicago Tribune reported. 

Before the charges came down, Foxx lobbied for the case to be transferred to the FBI after Tchen, a friend of Smollett’s family, contacted her with ‘concerns’ about the local investigation, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the case

Tina Tchen, a former Michelle Obama aide who helped lead the MeToo movement, connected Smollett’s family with Foxx

Jussie Smollett, 39, was originally charged with 16 counts of filing a false police report and faced up to 48 years behind bars for allegedly staging a racist, anti-gay attack in Chicago

Relatives said they were worried about the amount of information that was being leaked to the media from the start of the investigation. 

Tchen persuaded Foxx to try to escalate the case to the FBI, according to text messages obtained by USA Today. 

Foxx said she was ‘trying’ and had spoken to Chicago’s top cop to try to ‘convince’ him to let the FBI take the lead on the investigation. 

She also exchanged text with one of Smollett’s relatives who replied: ‘Omg this would be a huge victory,’ when Foxx mentioned her efforts.

The dismissal of charges outraged former Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson and then-mayor Rahm Emanuel, who decried it as a ‘whitewash of justice’ and said Smollett got off ‘scot-free’ because he is famous. 

Much criticism was fired at Foxx, who recused herself from the case. But questions loomed about whether she acted improperly for speaking to a Smollett relative and colleagues before the charges were dismissed.

Despite recusing herself, Foxx sent messages to her deputy on March 8 after a grand jury indicted Smollett, saying that she felt the charges were excessive because other people had been let off the work for more serious crimes.

The charges were dropped two weeks later. 

Kim Foxx sent these text messages to her deputy on March 8 after a grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 counts of lying to police. She had already ‘recused’ herself for speaking to Smollett’s family but continued to interfere in the case by telling her deputies that the charges were excessive. The charges were dropped two weeks later 

The city’s mayor at the time decried the decision to drop the charges and went on Good Morning America to demand answers. 

‘This does not add up. They better get their story straight, this is making fools of us all,’ Emanuel said. 

‘He abused the city of Chicago, he committed a crime here. He lied about something,’ he went on, adding that it was not just the state but also a grand jury who thought Smollett was guilty. 

‘He said he wanted to get his name clear. Let’s get to the bottom of this, let’s find out what happened,’ Emanuel said. 

Protestors gathered outside Foxx’s office to oppose the dismissal of charges, led by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

The president of the Chicago Police Union also expressed fury over the case, and called on Foxx to resign, claiming she displayed a trend of not prosecuting felony charges.

Smollett is pictured in the hospital after he was attacked; police said he staged the assault to bolster his acting career

Kevin Graham said the decision to drop all charges against Smollett was the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for local authorities upset with Foxx, noting that the city’s Fraternal Order of Police took a formal vote to show the group’s lack of support for her.

‘We’re saying: this is enough,’ Graham said during an appearance on ‘America’s Newsroom’ in April 2019 ‘We’re asking for her to step down, the FOP in Chicago took a vote of no confidence and so did the police chiefs around Cook County.’ 

In announcing her bid for re-election in 2019, Foxx acknowledged that she had regrets about the case, saying: ‘I didn’t handle it well. I own that.’

Special prosecutor Dan Webb was appointed in August 2019 to investigate why Foxx’s office dropped the charges. He himself faced criticism and claims of another conflict of interest when it emerged he had donated $1,000 to Foxx’s re-election campaign once.

In February 2020, some charges were restored after  grand jury returns six-count indictment against Smollett, accusing him of lying to police. 

The prosecutor who decided to drop the original charges against Smollett in March 2019 admitted that he did not believe the celebrity was innocent, but claimed he dropped the case because the actor had no background.

First Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Magats told CBC at the time that he thought Smollett was guilty but that ‘based on the facts and circumstances’ of the case and his ‘lack of criminal background’, the decision was made not to pursue the 16 felony disorderly conduct charges that a grand jury returned.

In a news release on the probe, Webb sharply criticized the handling of the Smollett case by Foxx and her assistant prosecutors. 

He said their handling was marked by disarray and misleading statements – but concluded that they did nothing criminal.

The dismissal of charges outraged former Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson and then-mayor Rahm Emanuel, who decried it as a ‘whitewash of justice’ and said Smollett got off ‘scot-free’ because he was famous

Special prosecutor Dan Webb was appointed in August 2019 to investigate why Foxx’s office dropped the charges. He’s pictured arriving at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for the Smollett trial in Chicago, Illinois on December 8