Kim Foxx, the Cook County State’s Attorney, tried to convince Chicago police to turn the Jussie Smollett case over to the FBI, Chicago newspapers reported.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the effort by Foxx came after a former Michelle Obama chief of staff reached out to Foxx. The newspaper reported that the chief of staff and lawyer was a supporter of Smollett. She was described as Tina Tchen, “a Chicago attorney and former chief of staff for former First Lady Michelle Obama,” by the Sun-Times.
You can read the texts here.
Cameras are ready at the criminal court building waiting for #JussieSmollett to come out after SA Kim Foxx decides to drop all charges against #Smollett
On March 26, 2019, the Empire actor’s attorneys dramatically revealed that prosecutors had dropped charges against Smollett, who stood accused of multiple felonies for allegedly faking a hate crime attack. “He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgment,” his lawyers said in a statement. It was a dramatic and stunning about-face in the case, and it’s renewed scrutiny over what happened between Kim Foxx and Tina Tchen.
Foxx had recused herself from the case, and her top deputy, Joe Magats, made the decision, according to a journalist for the New York Times, who quoted Magats as saying, “We stand behind the investigation, we stand behind the decision to charge him and we stand behind the charges in the case. The mere fact that it was disposed of in an alternative manner does not mean that there were any problems or infirmities in the case or the evidence.” New York Times reporter Julie Bosman quoted Joseph Magats as saying, “We didn’t exonerate him.”
“Recusing herself, but not her administration, is a distinction without a difference,” Fraternal Order of Police Second Vice President Martin Preib told The New York Post. “What underling is going to go against their boss’s wishes?”
That isn’t sitting well with Chicago police or with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who are irate.
Both Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson expressed great anger over the decision. “This, without a doubt, is a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message that if you’re in a position of influence and power you’ll get treated one way. Other people will be treated another way,” Emanuel said in a joint news conference with Johnson, who also criticized the decision. “There is no accountability then in the system. It is wrong, full stop.”
The Chicago police superintendent didn’t know the decision was coming, reports CBS Chicago. According to CNN, the records were sealed.
“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office stated in an email to CBS Chicago.
Here’s what you need to know:
Foxx Was Accused of Writing Tchen & a Smollett Relative About the Case
Getty
Tina Tchen is deeply embedded in the highest echelons of Chicago politics through the Emanuels as well as the Obamas.
Tina Tchen is also close friends with the wife of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, according to The Chicago Tribune, which also reported on the contact. Foxx reached out to the police Superintendent Eddie Johnson after Tina Tchen emailed Foxx “saying the actor’s family had unspecified ‘concerns about the investigation.’”
Daily Mail reports that Tchen and Smollett’s sister Jurnee Smollett-Bell were pictured together at events, and “both of Smollett’s sisters also worked for the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012.”
Rahm Emanuel, however, has blasted prosecutors’ decision to drop charges in the Smollett case, accusing Smollett of having no decency and calling the decision a whitewash of justice. You can watch his comments here.
GettyTina Tchen, Chair of the Recording Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force speaks onstage during the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards – Entertainment Law Initiative at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel on February 08, 2019 in Santa Monica, California.
The Tribune described Tchen as a “close friend of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s wife” who said she “was acting on behalf of” Jussie Smollett and his family. According to The Tribune, a relative “later exchanged texts with Foxx.” The Tribune summarized some of the electronic communications documenting contact as follows:
The newspaper reports that Foxx wrote Tchen on February 1, with the message reportedly saying: “Spoke to the Superintendent Johnson. I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation.”
Foxx is alo accused of texting the unnamed Smollett relative and writing, “Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask. Trying to figure out logistics. I’ll keep you posted.” When the relative wrote back, “Omg this would be a huge victory,” Foxx responded, “I make no guarantees, but I’m trying,” the Tribune reported.
Foxx told the Sun-Times that the family member was worried about leaks from the police investigation. Foxx told the newspaper: “They had no doubt about the quality of the investigation, but believed that the FBI would have a tighter lid on the information.”
Patricia Holmes, Smollett’s attorney, told the news media the state “made a motion to drop the charges against Jussie Smollett and to seal the record in this case.”
Smollett also has met and spoken positively about the Obamas, sharing a photo of himself in February 2018 with them on Twitter and writing, “With my big bro Jojo, @MichelleObama & @BarackObama back when the White House was the Kingdom of Wakanda…?????♂️??♀️??♂️??♂️.”
With my big bro Jojo, @MichelleObama & @BarackObama back when the White House was the Kingdom of Wakanda…🙌🏿😩🙅🏾♂️🙅🏾♀️🙅🏾♂️🙅🏾♂️
Jussie Smollett and Michelle Obama once danced on stage.
Smollett performed musically at the Obama White House in honor of Ray Charles (he also donated money to the campaign of Hillary Clinton).
Chicago’s Police Union Wants a Federal Investigation of Foxx’s Handling of the Jussie Smollett Case
Joined by Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announces that charges have been filed against singer R. Kelly on February 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.
Foxx had recused herself from the Smollett case after the messages emerged between her, the Smollett relative, and Tina Tchen, WGN-TV reported.
Even so, Chicago’s police union says a federal investigation was necessary into her handling of the case. That call for an investigation came on March 19 even before the charges against Smollett were dropped.
“That recusal is wholly insufficient,” FOP president Kevin Graham said in a statement. “In order for Ms. Foxx to properly charge and try this case, her entire office should have recused itself and a special prosecutor been appointed.” 1st assistant SA Joseph Magats took over the case at that time.
Foxx had recused herself from the Smollett case in February and a statement explained, “Out of an abundance of caution, the decision to recuse herself was made to address potential questions of impartiality based upon familiarity with potential witnesses in the case.” According to ABC 7, she recused herself “after having a conversation with a relative of Smollett about the case.”
Tina Tchen Spent Eight Years at the White House
US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and cabinet secretaries meet with the Council on Women and Girls in the Oval Office of the White House on January 22, 2014 in Washington, DC. From left: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Biden, Obama, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls Tina Tchen.
On her LinkedIn page, Tina Tchen describes herself as a “Litigation lawyer, former Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama, and activist for women’s issues.” Since 2017, she has been a partner at Buckley Sandler, LLP.
Before that, she spent eight years at the White House. Her LinkedIn page lists the following positions there:
Executive Director, Council on Women and Girls
Dates Employed 2011 – 2017
Employment Duration 6 yrs
Title Chief of Staff to the First Lady Michelle Obama
Dates Employed 2011 – 2017
Employment Duration 6 yrs
Title Assistant to the President
Dates Employed 2011 – 2017
Employment Duration 6 yrs
Title Director, Office of Public Engagement
Dates Employed 2009 – 2011
Employment Duration 2 yrs
Before working in the White House, Tchen was a litigation lawyer. She is a graduate of Northwestern and Harvard Universities, according to her page.
Kim Foxx Is the First African-American Woman to Lead the Cook County Prosecutor’s Office
Kim Foxx attends Raising Our Voices: Supporting More Women in Hollywood & Politics at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills on February 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
According to her bio, Kim Foxx, also known as Kimberly M. Foxx, is “the first African American woman to lead the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office – the second largest prosecutor’s office in the country.” She took office in 2016 promising to make the office fairer and more transparent.
She has focused, in part, on exonerating people convicted as a result of what she sees as misconduct by Chicago police.
“She has revamped the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, resulting in overturned convictions in over 60 cases, including the first-ever mass exoneration in Cook County for 15 men whose convictions stemmed from misconduct by a Chicago Police Officer,” the bio says. She was previously a Guardian ad litem and assistant prosecutor.
Since Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx has been sworn in as the top prosecutor, the Fraternal Order of Police has cited one example after another of her giving breaks to criminals and… t.co/W1IccSmDXf
Foxx’s campaign was funded in part by George Soros money, according to Politico, which wrote, “Soros next piled money into two of the biggest jurisdictions in the country: Houston’s Harris County (his lone losing effort so far) and Chicago’s Cook County, where he funded one of several groups that helped Kim Foxx defeat incumbent state’s attorney Anita Alvarez.” The primary focused on the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.