Special prosecutor Dan Webb announced Monday that he had closed his investigation into Jussie Smollett’s handling of last year’s hate crime prosecution and found that Cook County attorney Kim Foxx and her office made several false and misleading statements about the case.
Webb also found that although there were unauthorized “leaks” of information by members of the Chicago Police Department, the sources of the leaks could not be identified and evidence would not support criminal prosecution.
The long-awaited report comes six months after Webb’s bureau filed a new six-count charge Smollett accused of falsifying a hate crime attack in 2019. However, Webb was also given a mandate to investigate how Foxx and CPD handled the case.
Webb said he found no evidence that criminal charges would support Foxx or any person who works for them. He also said he found no evidence of wrongdoing by any third party, including by Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff, Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Jurnee Smollett, Jussie Smollett’s sister.
Foxx’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chicago Police Department declined to comment.
Webb announced Monday that he had reached “five key definitive conclusions” about holding and carrying Foxx and her office. In drawing up the details of those conclusions, Webb described how Foxx and its bureau repeatedly made false and misleading statements about the Smollett case.
In one example, Webb said Foxx and staff members came to recognize that “rape” in the case was legally defective because Foxx could not simply appoint an “acting state member.”
After all, she had to ask the judge to appoint a special prosecutor. Webb said Foxx and her staff “made the decision to apparently ignore this major legal defect because they did not want to admit that they had made such a significant mistake of judgment regarding the refusal of State Attorney Foxx.” He said they continued to “compile the problem” by making false statements to the media about whether she knew about the problem.
Webb also said that Foxx made false or misleading statements and claimed that she had stopped communicating with Jurnee Smollett after Foxx became aware that Jussie Smollett had become a subject of the investigation.
Foxx learned by February 8, 2019, that Jussie Smollett had become a suspect, but she continued to communicate with Jurnee Smollett until February 13, including in five text messages and three phone calls, according to Webb.
Webb also referred to an op-ed Foxx published in the Chicago Tribune, in which he said she “falsely represented” that her bureau “believed the chance of a conviction was uncertain.”
Overall, Webb said he found:
• Evidence for establishing “substantial abuse of discretion” in the prosecution and dismissal of the initial criminal charges filed against Smollett.
Evidence “that may increase to the level of a violation of legal ethics by State’s Attorney Foxx” and other Cook County prosecutors “in connection with false and / or misleading public statements made about the prosecution.”
Evidence that Foxx appeared was frequently updated on the case against Smollett after her alleged dismissal, although there was no evidence that Foxx was involved in decision-making after that point.
• No evidence supporting criminal prosecution against Foxx or any other Cook County prosecutor.
• No evidence of “wrongful influence by third party outsiders” in Foxx’s decision – making regarding the initial charges against Smollett.
Smollett, who is black and openly gay, told police in January 2019 that he had been jumped by two white men near his home in Streeterville. Smollett wrapped up in was accused of faking the attack. A 16-count charge filed against him in March 2019 was dropped just weeks later, but the way it was done is suspect.
Webb was later appointed special prosecutor and in February filed his six-count charge against Smollett. Smollett pleaded guilty.
In his announcement Monday, Webb said his CPD and Foxx’s office investigation included 53 interviews, more than 50 statements requested as documents, and the collection of more than 26,000 documents. He said he had produced a 60-page report that he was not allowed to release in public because it contained material from grand jury.
Webb said he will ask the judge to enter into an order authorizing the release “as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Webb announced his findings in a 12-page press release that, although detailed, does not appear to explain the details of how the final decision was made to drop the first charge against Smollett.
This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.
