Even though local prosecutors inexplicably dropped all charges against disgraced actor Jussie Smollett, there’s still some chance justice will be served in the case of an alleged hate crime hoax.
One thing is certain, Chicago police are livid over the shocking turn of events.
While the “Empire” actor has escaped criminal charges with the Cook County State’s Attorney dropping 16 felony counts related to Smollett allegedly filing a false police report about an attack Chicago police believe he staged, Smollett could face federal charges for mail fraud.
Smollett received hate mail laced with white powder a week before the alleged attack occurred, and there are questions about whether he sent the letter to himself — if he is convicted, the sentence could be up to a decade in prison.
Interestingly, when asked by CNN’s Don Lemon if there may be federal charges filed against her client for mail fraud, Smollett’s lawyer, Patricia Brown Holmes, replied, “I have no idea.”
But she did acknowledge that there has been communication with the U.S. Attorney, who she said was “treating Jussie as a witness.”
There are also possibilities of civil lawsuits related to the scandal — though they could go both ways. Complaining witnesses could sue Smollett, and the actor could also file suit in an effort to clear his name.
But make no mistake, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who said that prosecutors did not inform him beforehand of the decision to drop charges, was very clear in who he believes is at fault.
“At the end of the day it was Smollett who committed this hoax,” Johnson said at a Tuesday press conference.
A Chicago Police Department officer told Fox News they smell a political rat and are furious.
There is controversy over reports that Tina Tchen, who was former first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, communicating with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx about the case.
Chicago police detective tells @FoxNews “We have a lot more evidence than we told the media about and we were fully prepared to go to trial. We’re very angry this happened.” #JussieSmollett
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) March 26, 2019
“The Chicago Police Department is not happy,” the officer said. “Our Superintendent expressed his displeasure about charges being dropped. The Department exhausted manpower and numerous hours investigating this case to make sure it was handled properly.”
Another former Chicago-based law enforcement source told Fox News police worked super hard on the case.
“They put a ton of manpower on it because they knew it sounded wrong from the beginning,” the source said.
How mad is the Chicago Police Department?
On Wednesday, the CPD released its investigative file on Jussie Smollett lickety-split in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from CWB Chicago.
Well, THAT was fast! @jussiesmollett #JussieSmollett
STANDBY…
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) March 27, 2019
EXCLUSIVE: Complete @Chicago_Police investigative file of @jussiesmollett case is now posted. Please credit @CWBChicago for our work.
LINK: https://t.co/ZyvJwCqIKw pic.twitter.com/6He2Ncwf1V
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) March 27, 2019
Some of the damning information in the files involves the unknown liquid the actor said his attackers threw on him.
“HUGE SCOOP: Osundairo brother told @Chicago_Police that he put bleach into an El Yucateco hot sauce bottle and poured it on @JussieSmollett. NYPost reporter later found bottle at the scene,” CWB Chicago tweeted.
HUGE SCOOP:
Osundairo brother told @Chicago_Police that he put bleach into an El Yucateco hot sauce bottle and poured it on @JussieSmollett. NYPost reporter later found bottle at the scene.
SEE FULL CPD FILE: https://t.co/ZyvJwCqIKw
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) March 27, 2019
Given that Smollett continues to insist he’s innocent, the response online was LIT.
Fastest FOIA response in CPD history. Can y’all do the Mueller report next?
— Lynn ? (@lynnhagewood) March 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/AdvHntr/status/1110946655598194688
Both files show a request to "reclassify" the Jussie Smollett incident from "aggravated battery" to a peace violation (false report), based on indications as early as January 31(?). Also note, FBI was involved and requested results of a CPD search executed on Smollett's iCloud. https://t.co/DZvL4qK7Ea
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) March 27, 2019
Now y'all know the @Chicago_Police were gonna leak this whole file! They are Big Mad. https://t.co/VqHn8s5eb8
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) March 27, 2019
World's fastest FOIA response. https://t.co/H1CAwbAzty
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) March 27, 2019
Siri, show me what it's like when a city police department is PISSED at the local DA…. https://t.co/Je22tyz4PP
— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) March 27, 2019
actually it was FOIAed
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 27, 2019
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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