CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago’s top prosecutor injected herself into the criminal case accusing Jussie Smollett of staging a racist, anti-gay attack in January despite having recused herself, telling a deputy in a text message weeks before charges were suddenly dropped that she believed the office had overcharged the “Empire” actor, according to newly released texts and emails.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her staff also scrambled later to explain the March 26 decision to drop all criminal charges against Smollett amid an explosion of public criticism, several thousand documents provided to The Associated Press and other media through open records requests indicate.
After communicating in early February with former first lady Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff Tina Tchen and with a member of Smollett’s family about the Smollett investigation, Foxx recused herself on Feb. 13, her office citing communications with the family member whom Tchen had encouraged Foxx to call.
In late March – after questions were raised about what prompted the dropping of charges – Foxx and her aides sought to recast their explanations about her role, with one statement saying Foxx “used the term ‘recuse'” in the “colloquial use of the term” and that she’d actually “informally separated herself from the decision-making.”
Foxx nevertheless weighed in at critical points as her staff decided how or whether to proceed with the prosecution, including in a March 8 text to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats, who became the final decision-maker after Foxx purportedly stepped away.