Kim Foxx under fire as Smollett case lingers

The Jussie Smollett case has taken on what seems to be a life of its own as it has careened from the initial headlines about the “Empire” actor being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in downtown Chicago that included a noose placed around his neck by two attackers, shouting, “This is MAGA country!”

After a surge of support from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Chicago Police Superintendent, Eddie Johnson, suspicions began to emerge, including lack of a clear video image from street cameras, and witnesses, and it was later revealed that Smollett had paid two Nigerian TV extras to stage the entire incident.

According to USA Today,  “The men, brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo, told police that Smollett paid them $3,500 by check to help orchestrate and stage the crime after he became upset that a threatening letter — addressed to him and sent to the Fox set where “Empire” is filmed — did not get enough attention.”

After State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said she was recusing herself due to contact with family members, her office, under the direction of attorney Joe Magats, said that the case was being thrown out, with Smollett having served community service and that the $10,000 bail was being returned.

That’s when all hell broke loose, with Emanuel claiming that it was “a whitewash of justice”, and an even angrier Johnson issuing damming statement.

"From top to bottom, this is not on the level. You have a person using hate crime laws that are on the books" to promote himself, Emanuel said. "Is there no decency in this man?"

Johnson said, "If you want to say you're innocent of the situation, you take your day in court. ... I would never hide behind a brokered deal in secrecy, period."

From the White House, President Trump sent a smirking tweet: .”@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA”

Calls for a recall for Foxx emerged almost immediately, and was capped off by recent marches for her removal and, for her support, and in a report by the local Fox News channel:

  

Foxx under attack

“The Jussie Smollett case was the 'tip of the iceberg' in regard to mishandlings by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, according to Chicago Police Union President Kevin Graham, who has joined a chorus of those calling for her resignation.

Graham said during an appearance on "America's Newsroom" on Friday that Foxx's shocking decision to drop all 16 charges against Jussie Smollett last week represents a trend by the State's Attorney of choosing not to pursue felony charges.

"We have had problems getting felony charges approved for battery to police officers," Graham said. "I've had officers, in my office, where their kneecaps were broken, where their fingertips were nearly bit off, and we can't get felony charges approved on this."

He continued by discussing the Fraternal Order of Police's recent vote of no confidence on the State's Attorney, which indicates the groups pointed lack of support in Foxx.

"We're saying: this is enough," Graham continued. "We're asking for her to step down, the FOP in Chicago took a vote of no confidence and so did the police chiefs around Cook County."

“Magats said the charges would not have been dropped without the bond forfeiture and the community service factor. He added that Smollett had no prior felonies and wasn't a danger to the community. When asked whether he considered Smollett to be innocent, the prosecutor told CNN affiliate WLS: "No."

The public wonders, and some react

While most Chicagoans shook their collective heads, many condemned the actor’s behavior, and the waste of money by the police and investigators; while others felt that his celebrity status had saved him jail time -- a feeling that was further increased when the local media reported that Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to former First Lady Michelle Obama, called Foxx on behalf of family members concerned about negative publicity.

With stern denials from Smollett and his attorneys followed by a collective head-scratching by the city and the entertainment community are mostly left with the impression that this was either a childish prank to gain more stature as an actor, to trying to avoid his character being written out and  ironically, now the attention is that Foxx’s reputation is on the chopping block.

With her term as state’s attorney ending in 2020, it seems that the cards are stacked against her, and has moved the controversy to what at times, has become a nasty confrontation on race; pitting the police, once again, against the community with charges that Foxx has played the race card to win sympathy, not entirely misplaced considering that race is always just beneath the surface in Chicago, where segregation, outright racism, and the legacy of police brutality is not uncommon, from torture (the infamous Jon Burge) to being stopped more frequently for minor traffic violations, than whites.

Things have gotten ugly, and threaten to get even uglier, and trying to stem this tide was The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. who at a recent press conference where he tried to sooth the waters, saying that Foxx is a good state’s attorney, and will continue to be do so.

It gets racial

Taking up the cudgels was Bobby Rush who stated, “The FOP is the sworn enemy of black people, the sworn enemy of black people.”

The Chicago Tribune reported him also saying, “The FOP has always taken the position that black people can be shot down in the street by members of the Chicago Police Department, and suffer no consequences,” Rush said, as an aide approached Foxx and the state’s attorney stepped out of television cameras’ view. “Let’s be clear: Kim Foxx, her battle, is with the FOP and all of their cohorts.”

Things have reached a fever pitch when it was reported that Members of white extremist groups were said to have participated in the union’s demonstration. A police union official has rejected that assertion, but Foxx criticized the union’s protests as “personal.”

“The injection of white nationalists in this conversation for me, I will tell you personally, I was afraid,” Foxx said.

“I would certainly hope that the FOP and whatever their disagreements with me may be, whatever concerns that they may have about my ability or leadership, would at least expect the people of their union to not inject racism or white nationalists into the conversation.”

Foxx, has also received death threats according to a Sun-Times article where they reported that "Jennifer Ballard Croft, Foxx’s chief of staff, confirmed Monday that Foxx’s “physical safety” has been threatened in the wake of the Smollett case."

These incidents show that the decision, rightly, or wrongly, shows racial scars that have not healed over decades, and impact not only Foxx, but racial tensions in the city.

Some still say why, and others say why not

While that might be so, many are still wondering why the case was sealed, why the secrecy, and why didn’t Smollett at least serve some time, even less than 6 months, and for a city that is overcome by fiscal red ink.

In her Op-Ed piece for the Tribune, Foxx responded by saying: There were specific aspects of the evidence and testimony presented to the office that would have made securing a conviction against Smollett uncertain. In determining whether or not to pursue charges, prosecutors are required to balance the severity of the crime against the likelihood of securing a conviction. For a variety of reasons, including public statements made about the evidence in this case, my office believed the likelihood of securing a conviction was not certain.”

For the $64,000 question, she said, “In the interest of full transparency, I would prefer these records be made public. However, in this case, Illinois law allows defendants in certain circumstances to request that public records remain sealed. Smollett chose to pursue that avenue, and so my office is barred from releasing those records without his approval.”

“Former Cook County Judge Daniel Locallo told the Tribune that prosecutors’ conduct in the Smollett case raised serious questions, particularly given the lack of public detail about the purported agreement and the little, if any, notice the office appeared to give to police.”

“Why the secrecy?” he said. “You believe you have enough evidence to go to the grand jury and you actually indict him, and then without any notice to anybody, you decide to drop the charges?

“What about other defendants? Why aren’t they afforded the same courtesy?” he said. “The bottom line is that this guy got the biggest break. He walks out of court, no charges. His bond goes to the city of Chicago, and he walks out as if nothing happened.”

Foxx defended, and reviled

Last week, it was announced that the city was filing a civil suit seeking to obtain over $390,000 in compensation for the costly investigation, and some cynics said, to paper over the embarrassment for believing Smollett, in the first place.

Lost in the accusations, and the name-calling according to Jobi Cates, the executive director of Restore Justice, a local advocacy organization, is that “Given national and local news coverage, an outside observer would believe Foxx’s handling of Jussie Smollett is . . an indicator of her performance. But does this case does not really say anything about her leadership, accountability or transparency?”

“In Illinois, there are around 40,000 people in prison every day, a large majority from Cook County. Very few of them were famous actors. But a decent percentage are in prison for too long or for the wrong reasons. Illinoisans’ most burning question for anyone sitting in the Cook County prosecutor’s seat should be about whether they are adding to or preserving that number to keep us safe and ensure justice, or as a reflexive response to political pressure?.”

In an attempt to staunch the tide of heated remarks, Foxx has asked the Cook County Inspector General to investigate how her office handled Smollett.

"Ensuring that I and my office have the community's trust and confidence is paramount to me, which is why I invited an independent review of this matter," Foxx said in a statement. "I welcome this investigation and pledge my full cooperation and the cooperation of my office."

That trust has been sorely tried as the controversy continued against a sense of outrage, that was at least three-quarters political, with CNN coverage noting that “State House Republican Leader Jim Durkin asked the Illinois attorney general's office in a letter to "complete a thorough review of the prosecution and sentencing determination in the Smollett investigation."

“Amid calls by the Chicago police union for a federal investigation to evaluate Foxx's involvement in the case, the FBI and the Justice Department will review the Smollett case, President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday, though neither agency has commented: "FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago," Trump said. "It is an embarrassment to our nation!"

As if to add even more controversy, we have this, also from CNN: In light of the case, the National District Attorneys Association released a statement on best prosecutorial practices in high-profile cases. Among its recommendations: recusals of chief prosecutors should apply to the entire office; prosecutors should not take advice from politically active friends of the accused; alternative prosecution should include the defendant admitting culpability; and Smollett's record should not have been expunged immediately in the interest of transparency.

While there will continue to be many remaining questions regarding the Smollett case, the legality of Foxx’s actions, and that of Magat, the role of his family and friends, and his celebrity status, the case has opened up a Pandora’s box, for the city, pitting the painful racial stratification that is part of Chicago, and testing relationships between the city, and its leaders, as accusations and counter accusations fly over the air, and in social media; making many wonder when will it end, or will it be akin to the Mueller report without the burden of proof.

The end is still not in sight and "The two brothers initially considered suspects in the Jussie Smollett hate crime investigation filed a defamation lawsuit against the “Empire” actor’s attorneys Tuesday, alleging that those lawyers made several false remarks about them after criminal charges against Smollett were dropped.

In a federal lawsuit, Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo also contend that Smollett paid them “a sum of money to stage the attack [against Smollett] to benefit himself” and “directed every aspect of the attack, including the location and the noose", added the Sun-Times.

As noted, Smollett's motive is debatable, but contained in their joint statement, was this:  “Mr. Smollett’s motivation was simple. He wanted his employer and the public to notice and appreciate him as a successful black, openly gay actor. So, Mr. Smollett directed every aspect of the attack, including the location and the noose.”

Adding a final twist to the story, from The Hill, is  "The cast of "Empire" rallied around their embattled co-star Jussie Smollett, writing a letter to executives at ABC, Fox and Disney in support of his return to the show.

"We write today to ask you to keep Jussie on the cast so that we can all put this behind us and move forward," cast members including Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard and Gabourey Sidibe wrote in an April 19 letter obtained by Deadline.

They also described their co-star as "kind," "compassionate" and "honest."

Updated 6:50 p.m. 24 April 2019

Lightfoot defeats Preckwinkle to become Chicago mayor

History was made on Tuesday with the election of Chicago’s first black female mayor, Lori Lightfoot, and an openly gay executive, in what was a landslide victory - 74 percent of the vote against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who is also head of the local Democratic Party --- a move that some, but not many, saw coming; bringing a mandate for change from the long-held corruption, and smoke filled rooms that ruled the nation’s third largest city for decades.

Notably, like an older dynastic family she carried all 50 wards, and as erstwhile political columnist Greg Hinz noted, “. . . , she can glory in her victory, which apparently included carrying all 50 wards and is the biggest since Richard M. Daley got 78.46 percent in February 2003.”

Lightfoot’s candidacy came on the heels of scandal, after scandal among bribe taking aldermen, failed and jailed public school heads, and a dizzying array of disgrace, that seemed to be part and parcel of what city government was, and might always be.

That path began to take a nosedive with the federal charges against longtime, and uber powerful, alderman, Edmund Burke who faced a criminal complaint by the feds for attempted extortion, served as a valve that flushed out politicians like Preckwinkle who initially denied any association with Burke and said that she was only a friend of his wife Anne, until the Chicago Tribune revealed that she was the beneficiary, not only of a private fundraiser at his home, but also the intended beneficiary of a Burger King shake down creating a whopper of a public relations mess that the voters remembered;, especially when it was later revealed that Preckwinkle was the intended beneficiary.

Her reputation was further shattered after Chicago Tribune investigations revealed that she hired Burke's son, for a county job, for security duties, associated with Homeland Security, having worked for Sheriff Tom Dart, and was “under internal investigation for allegedly making inappropriate sexual comments at the sheriff’s office when Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s administration hired him to a nearly $100,000 per year job, newly released records show,” reported the Tribune.

Lightfoot, on the other hand was the first, and only candidate who publicly condemned him, and the further tattered reputation of the city, who told the  Chicago Tribune, ““It seems all these other folks are running for cover and don’t want to talk about him, but frankly, that underscores the fact that we’ve got different factions of the political machine manifested in Mendoza, Preckwinkle, Daley and Chico and others who don’t want to rock the boat because they are very much wedded to the status quo,” said former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot, one of the few mayoral candidates eager to discuss Burke. “It’s telling that they aren’t willing to step up and say, ‘Look, this guy has been in office way too long, he’s been allowed to amass way too much power.’ ”

Such refreshing honesty had voters sit up and blink, and vote her into office, and remove a slew of other aldermen who had also been “in office way too long” has now with the election of other younger, more progressive, even far-to-the left, aldermen will recreate the city council and move that body into a more cohesive hole but one without old school pols like Pat O’Connor, Joe Moore and Deb Mell, all tied to longtime political, and in the case of Mell, near dynastic ties.

“Mell, 50, is the daughter of powerful former 33rd Ward Democratic committeeman and Ald. Dick Mell. Dick Mell, who was first elected in 1975, famously jumped up on a desk during the tumultuous 1987 City Council meeting to decide a successor to the late Mayor Harold Washington,” said the Chicago Sun-Times.

Lightfoot’s election also shows the erosion of the power of the Irish-American Catholic ascendancy that has ruled Chicago, where once under Richard J. Daley, being Roman Catholic, even if black, might get one a patronage job, a hallmark of the Chicago machine.

In her victory speech, Lightfoot said,  "Thank you, Chicago. From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” where she also noted the contributions of Immigrants and those “who love differently.”

"In this election, Toni and I were competitors, but our differences were nothing compared to what we can achieve together. Now that it's over, I know we'll work together for the city we both love," she said. "Today, you did more than make history. You created a movement for change."

In a previous comments on local public radio, there was this statement from Lightfoot, that galvanized many, where she noted that Chicago needed to  "break from the status quo that has failed us" and deliver "equity, inclusion and fairness."

“The only way we are going to carve a new path for the city ... is to vote for change.”

"It's unacceptable, the condition of our communities on the South and West sides," she said during a candidate forum last week on WBEZ-Chicago Public Media, referring to predominantly black and disadvantaged areas of the city of 2.7 million people. "The only way we are going to carve a new path for the city, to take us in a direction that our communities don't continue to be resource starved, is to vote for change."

Part of the change is to stem the tides of financial holes in the city budget created from some of her predecessors, and mentors, that led to a pension deficit for the city’s first responders, firefighter and police, and ill-advised parking meter scheme that funneled much needed dollars and jobs to New York bankers.

The school system, is struggling under the weight of a less than fully implemented statewide plan to fund its mostly black and brown student population, with a deteriorating physical plant, and great distrust between the police and black communities that culminated in the 2015 shooting of an unarmed black teenager Laquan McDonald.

The new mayor will also have to counter those that want to water down her victory by saying, “well, the voter turnout was so low,” or those that who with open hostility questioned her fitness for office by denigrating her as a “corporate lawyer” (no sin, in and of itself) or belittled her attempts at the police board to bring evidence based practice to her role, or those, like Preckwinkle who blithely dismissed her, and that she saw the mayor’s office as an entry level job.

In her concession speech, she was less than gracious and talked about her record, barely mentioning her defeat, and instead urged her supporters to “keep on fighting.”

At just over 5 feet tall, Lightfoot is not one to mince words, or wary of using profanity, but then it’s been said, that a woman who can cuss with conviction, earns respect, and in a report from Crain’s Chicago Business, there was this assessment: "I don't think she will buckle under political pressure," says Eric Sussman, who served with Lightfoot as a federal prosecutor. Around 2000, he says, she was summing up the prosecution's argument in a bank-robbery trial when the defendant stood up and began yelling. "She dropped her legal pad and went toe-to-toe with this guy who must have been twice her size. Both of them had to be restrained."

Noting her full plate, the Sun-Times, headlined tartly, on Tuesday, and needlessly, to “get to work” after a lukewarm congratulations, setting up a possible racial angle, for her coverage, reminiscent of one of the more infamous Chicago Reader covers, that urged Barack Obama, “Don’t Screw This Up,” both reminding that Chicago, like the nation, maintains a separate but unequal status, even among highly qualified and lawfully elected lawmakers.