It's been over a month and a half since Jussie Smollett first made allegations that he was the victim of a hate crime in Chicago. Although he had the public's support initially, that shifted after he became the suspect on the case. However, as reports emerged earlier today that the charges against him had been dropped, it turns out that he reportedly had a connection at the Cook's County State's Attorney office keeping him in the loop about the ongoing about the investigation.
The Chicago-Tribune reports that text messages and e-mails between the State Attorney Kim Foxx and two of Jussie Smollett's allies have been leaked online. The messages revealed that Smollett's allies got in contact with Foxx asking her to intervene in the case a few days prior to Smollett filing a police report to Chicago PD.
The first interaction was between Michelle Obama's former chief of staff Tina Tchen who emailed Foxx on behalf of Jussie's family. Tchen said that there were "concerns" among the actor's family with the way the investigation was being dealt with. At this point, it's believed that Chicago PD already had doubts about Smollett's story and was leaking info on the case.
Tchen received a response from Foxx on Feb. 1st who said, "Spoke to Superintendent Johnson. I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get back to me shortly."
On the same day, Smollett's unnamed relative texted Foxx who told them that the case was being sent to the FBI.
If you recall, Foxx ended up recusing herself from the case after Smollett became the suspect in the case. After the charges were dropped, the Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago asked the Dept. of Justice to investigate Kim Foxx's involvement in the case.
