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UH-OH: Jussie Smollett May Not Be Off The Hook After All — A Special Prosecutor Has Been Appointed

Photo of K. Walker K. WalkerAugust 23, 2019
20 3 minutes read

New developments on the Jussie Smollett hate hoax could change EVERYTHING.

Jussie Smollett, the musician and long-time cast member for the Fox show, Empire, could have the 16 criminal charges that had been dropped reinstated.

Chicago news agencies are reporting that a judge has appointed a Special Prosecutor to investigate the handling of the Smollett case.

Citing “unprecedented irregularities identified in this case,” Cook County Judge Michael Toomin wrote in his ruling that “this case warrants the appointment of independent counsel to restore the public’s confidence in the integrity of our criminal justice system.”

Chief Communications Officer for the Chicago Police Department, Anthony Guglielmi,  tweeted out that the police will “fully cooperate” with the special prosecutor in his investigation.

A Cook County judge selected former U.S. attorney Dan Webb to be the special prosecutor overseeing the investigation into the handling of the Jussie Smollett case.

Webb is arguably Chicago’s most high-profile defense attorney of the last few decades and has been tapped five times previously to serve as a special prosecutor. Webb gained prominence for his lead role during the Operation Greylord investigations into judicial corruption in Cook County.

Source: Fox 32

Webb is a former U.S. Attorney that served as a Special Counsel in the Iran-Contra affair.

He means business. On Friday he told the press, “I intend to expedite everything. But the facts will take me where they take me.” He added, “I’m going to start fresh and see where it goes.”

Starting from scratch could mean some very bad news for the State Attorney, Kim Foxx, as well as for Smollett.

A special prosecutor would be allowed to bring new charges against the “Empire” actor if there are “reasonable grounds” to do so, Judge Michael Toomin ruled.

Toomin said Foxx’s contact with a relative of Smollett’s before he was charged did not rise to the level of a conflict of interest. He said she had no authority to appoint her top deputy, First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats, to oversee the case after announcing she was recusing herself. He said Foxx effectively appointed Magats to a “fictitious” office to serve in her stead.

“What causes concerns is that she appointed him to an entity that had and has no legal existence. There is no office of acting state’s attorney,” he said.

“Here, the ship of the State ventured from its protected harbor without the guiding hand of its captain. There was no master on the bridge to guide the ship as it floundered through unchartered waters,” Toomin wrote in his ruling.

Source: CBS 2 Chicago

In late January, Smollett claimed that two white guys who were apparently Empire fans, wearing red hats attacked him in the middle of the night in Chicago during the Polar Vortex while using racist and homophobic slurs and informing him that this was “MAGA country.”  He says that they threw bleach on him and he had a rope around his neck.

It was all over the news. He had support from everyone on the left and the attack on Smollett was just one more example that the United States is a hate-filled hell-hole. He even gave a tearful interview on ABC News about how offended he was that people believed that he could make up such a horrible thing.

Later, it was revealed that Smollett paid his Nigerian personal trainers to stage the attack so that he could negotiate a better salary. At the time, Smollett was making between $65,000 and $125,000 per episode in addition to appearances, and revenue from his music career.

So, yeah. He made it all up and was charged but just as quickly as his hate hoax was revealed, the charges against him were dropped, and it left a lot of questions.

Perhaps we’ll finally be getting some answers.

Check out ClashDaily’s extensive coverage of the Jussie Smollett Hate Hoax here:

Photo of K. Walker K. WalkerAugust 23, 2019
20 3 minutes read
Photo of K. Walker

K. Walker

ClashDaily's Associate Editor since August 2016. Self-described political junkie, anti-Third Wave Feminist, and a nightmare to the 'intersectional' crowd. Mrs. Walker has taken a stand against 'white privilege' education in public schools. She's also an amateur Playwright, former Drama teacher, and staunch defender of the Oxford comma. Follow her humble musings on Twitter: @TheMrsKnowItAll and on Gettr @KarenWalker