FILE – In this Feb. 22, 2019 file photo, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Foxx on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, defended the decision by her staff to drop charges that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack in January. Foxx recused herself before Smollett was charged last month because she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
CHICAGO (AP) – City officials on Thursday ordered Jussie Smollett to pay $130,000 to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of a street attack that police say was staged to promote his career.
A letter from the city’s legal department to Smollett and his attorneys said that figure covers overtime worked by more than two dozen detectives and officers who spent weeks looking into Smollett’s claim, including reviewing video and physical evidence and conducting interviews.
Those resources, the letter said, “could have been used for other investigations.”
Hours earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI and the Department of Justice would review the “outrageous” case, calling it an “embarrassment” to the country.
Prosecutors infuriated Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the police chief this week when they abruptly dropped 16 felony counts that accused Smollett of making a false police report about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack in January.