If Jussie Smollett thought he was home free after all charges against him were dropped and the records sealed, he’s in for a rude awakening. The white powder that he is believed to have mailed himself, prompting a HAZMAT response and another waste of manpower, could still net him two to ten years in prison if a federal indictment is brought.
And now the behavior of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who had inexplicable recused herself early in the case only to unrecuse herself so that she could broker a deal for Smollett, has renewed the interest of federal authorities.
One irregularity that the FBI is now looking into is the speed with which charges against Smollett were dismissed. “It was such a quick turnaround,” former Cook County prosecutor-turned-criminal-defense-attorney Andrew Weisberg told Fox News on Wednesday, explaining that “pretrial diversions” — such the arrangement made in this case where Smollett forfeited his $10,000 bond in exchange for his release — usually take a year to complete.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Whether authorities will be satisfied with Kim Foxx’s explanation — that charges against Smollett were too severe and that her goal, as detailed in the following video, is to “expand at how we look at accountability and justice looks like”— remains to be seen.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx admits they didn’t like the punishment for type of felony with Jussie Smollett and changed the standards: "We have to expand at how we look at accountability and justice looks like” pic.twitter.com/8fYjgwMXJu #JussieSmolett
— Matt Batzel (@MattBatzel) March 28, 2019
In a revealing tweet of her own, Foxx thanks former California Attorney General and now presidential hopeful Kamala Harris for mentoring “me as I work to reform the criminal justice system in Cook County”:
I’m so excited that @KamalaHarris has decided to run for president. I would not be where I am today without her guidance during my first run for political office, and she has continued to mentor me as I work to reform the criminal justice system in Cook County. —KF pic.twitter.com/O241FGKKMs
— Kim Foxx (@KimFoxxforSA) January 21, 2019
Meantime, as she works to fundamentally transform Chicago, real crimes there grow increasingly more brazen, as witnessed by this mind-boggling story.