Kim Foxx, Chicago top prosecutor and the one who let Jussie Smollett off the hook legally, is about to be hauled into court before a judge to explain herself on why she chose to drop the case.
The Cook County (Illinois) State’s Attorney was slapped with a subpoena by a retired appellate judge. This judge wants to have a special prosecutor to look into how Foxx rationalized dropping all 16 felony counts against Smollett for allegedly staging a hoax beatdown in late January, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The backlash Foxx received was intense and fierce.
That Foxx is under immense legal scrutiny comes as no surprise to observers of this case. The White House called Foxx’s actions “shameful” and demanded the U.S. Department of Justice investigate her office. Since her decision to drop the case, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Manuel and the local police union railed vociferously against Foxx publicly. Others are calling for Foxx to resign.
Judge Sheila O’Brien filed a “notice to appear” as a way to make Smollett attend Thursday’s court hearing, as well as Foxx.
O’Brien demands that Foxx and Smollett fork over all original documents in the case to prove “that they have not been altered or destroyed.” The inference here is clear: there is a widespread belief that Foxx showed favor to Smollett and was influenced by some outside force to drop the charges.
In fact, the Sun-Times reports the retired judge accuses Foxx of having a case that was “plagued with irregularity” and that “Foxx misled the public into believing that Smollett’s case was handled like any other prosecution and without influence.”
For her part, Foxx said in more than one press conference that she welcomes outside agencies to come in and audit her office’s handling of the explosive Smollett case.
