“This really does shine a light -- not only on the case in of itself, but it shines a light on how mismanaged the office is. There really are serious cases being mismanaged.”
Though Chicago prosecutors dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett in March, the legal saga over the case continues on. This week — in a move that is symptomatic of the strangeness of the dispute — the judge involved in the case rejected a call for him to recuse himself, but did agree to let another judge handle one very important decision.
Police formally brought charges against Smollett, alleging he had cooked up a hate-crime hoax and wasted valuable department resources. But the case was ultimately tossed by Cook County prosecutors with little explanation.The Story Gets StrangerSince then, as people have tried to sort out what actually happened and why the case against Smollett was dropped, the city has played host to a legal whodunnit, featuring an ensemble cast rife with possible conflicts of interest.
Also coming to light was a curious backchannel text messages between Foxx and former Tina Tchen, chief of staff to Michelle Obama. These messages reportedly encouraged Foxx to hand the investigation over to the FBI. "It had a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing towards it," he said, adding it included in"red caps...MAGA," likely referring to President Trump's campaign slogan:"Make America Great Again."
On Thursday, Judge LeRoy Martin, Jr., decided against recusing himself in the matter, but did decide to let another jurist rule on whether or not a special prosecutor should be appointed in the probe into Foxx’s handling of Smollett’s criminal case. “Why are you fighting so hard to keep Judge Martin, when there are hundreds of judges in Cook County and around the State who do not have a son hired by you/your administration and are not working for you and under your supervision,” read the question.
“It really goes to the credibility, not only of the office but the state’s attorney [Foxx] herself,” the source, who agreed to speak to Newsweek on the condition of anonymity, said. “If Martin made an adverse decision, his kid might be affected by it... So I understand from his standpoint his potential not wanting to show any appearance of impropriety.”
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