On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI would investigate the hate hoax perpetrated by Empire star Jussie Smollett. A prosecutor in the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the 16 counts against Smollett regarding his report of a hate crime that he seems to have fabricated. Trump called foul.
“FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!” the president tweeted.
FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019
After the charges were dropped, outrage rightly ensued.
Smollett continues to claim that on January 29, masked white attackers wearing MAGA hats had screamed, “This is MAGA country!” before seizing him, putting a noose around his neck, and pouring an unknown bleach-scented liquid on him.
Last month, police announced that they had turned against Smollett upon discovering evidence that suggested the Empire actor had paid Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo and his brother Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo to attack him. Unearthed evidence included receipts showing the brothers buying the rope used in the attack and a check Smollett gave them.
After police turned on Smollett, prosecutors charged him with 16 felony counts. Mysteriously on Tuesday, the prosecutors dropped all 16 counts. Smollett and his attorneys insisted he had been telling the truth from the beginning, but the police and even Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not buy it. Emanuel called the dropping of the charges a “whitewash of justice.”
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) called on the DOJ to investigate Kim Foxx. Foxx had intervened in the Smollett case early on, bringing the FBI into the hate crime investigation after Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff, Tina Tchen, asked her to do so.
The FOP has long faulted Foxx for betraying the Chicago Police Department. In her 2016 campaign, Foxx received hefty checks from a Super PAC funded by George Soros and lawyers who specialize in overturning criminal convictions. She herself freed violent criminals, some of whom had confessed to murder, and launched a prosecution of police officers for allegedly conspiring against a black teen. That prosecution found the cops innocent.
The DOJ and FBI should investigate the Smollett case. They can bring charges against Smollett for wire fraud, since he sent himself a threatening letter to Fox headquarters.
Federal authorities should also investigate Kim Foxx.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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