Report finds 'abuses of discretion' but no criminal wrongdoing in Kim Foxx handling of Smollett case
Source: Chicago Tribune
Cook County prosecutors gave actor Jussie Smollett an inexplicable and unprecedented deal — and then misled the public about it — when they dropped disorderly conduct charges against him last year, but there was no evidence that they were swayed by outside clout or committed any crimes, a team of special prosecutors has concluded.
A news release Monday summarizing an investigation led by special prosecutor Dan Webb indicated that while no criminal charges were warranted against anyone in State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office, his team would be reporting potential violations of legal ethics over the handling of the Smollett investigation to Illinois’ attorney disciplinary board. Some false statements in the Smollett matter were made by Foxx herself, Webb found.
There was little new information in Monday’s statement for anyone paying close attention to Smollett’s twisting legal saga, which drew international scrutiny after he was charged in February 2019 with staging a phony hate crime on himself. The media firestorm only escalated after prosecutors abruptly dropped all 16 felony counts in a last-minute hearing about a month after he was charged.
In fact, despite conducting dozens of interviews and seating a special grand jury to subpoena records and hear evidence, Webb apparently could not shine any light on a question that has gone unanswered for more than a year: How, exactly, did prosecutors reach the deal to drop Smollett’s first case?
Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-jussie-smollett-kim-foxx-dan-webb-report-20200817-avbaer4kezasnp4ih3fms7a3sq-story.html
Dan Webb was the Iran-Contra special prosecutor who won the case against Adm. John Poindexter. During Reagan's first term, Webb was the top federal prosecutor in Chicago.
