I’ve been sitting on this for a few days, just to make sure one more thing didn’t pop up.
Mr. Jussie Smallett is a clear example of Leftist Privilege. I will explain.
Just in case you haven’t heard, Jussie Smallett, a cast member on the TV show Empire, for whatever reason, mailed to himself two threatening letters, then paid two Ethiopian brothers, one of which has a minor role in the same show, to dress up in whiteface, wear MAGA hats and “assault” him, putting a noose around his neck and shouting “This is Trump Country!”
The police took this hate crime seriously, and once the facts came out, Jussie was charged with 16 felonies.
Police Commissioner Eddie Johnson, in a press conference, laid out the case against Mr. Smallett point by point when charges were filed, kind of like when James Comey laid out the case against Hillary on July 5th, 2016. Except Commissioner Johnson did not hamstring the prosecution like Comey did.
Then, last week, Kim Foxx, the State attorney “in charge” of the case, drops all charges against Mr. Smallett. Both Police Commissioner Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel were not told about the dismissal. They saw it on the news. So, Commissioner Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a joint press conference, and both were plainly upset about this turn of events. Mayor Emanuel stating that Mr. Smallett should reimburse the city for all of the costs of the investigation.
Then we find out Ms. Foxx had an ex parte conversation with Smallett’s family. Then we also find out that Ms. Foxx also received a phone call from Tina Tchen, the former Chief of Staff for Michelle Obama about the case. Because of this, Ms. Foxx recused herself from the case due to an appearance of impropriety. Except that she didn’t really recuse herself, because she’s the one who made the decision to drop the charges.
I want to be clear, there is no evidence of this, this is the wandering of my own mind. Why would Ms. Tchen contact Ms. Foxx, if not at the behest of Ms. Obama? This does not pass the smell test.
All-in-all, what we have here is a clear case of Leftist Privilege. Because Mr. Smallett faked a hate crime that blamed Trump supporters, gets a pass on sixteen felonies. Depending on how many he would have been convicted on and how they were stacked, Mr. Smallett could have spent up to 64 years in jail. In reality, it probably would have been a total of 18-24 months.
One last twist, the other day, Mayor Emanuel totally reversed his position, now blaming the election of President Trump as being a motivating factor in Mr. Smallett perpetuating this “hate crime” upon himself.
The good news is, this is a long way from being over.
First of all, remember the threating letters Mr. Smallett mailed to himself? Yeah, sending threats through the U.S. Mail is a federal offense, not under the control of Ms. Foxx. Also, Ms. Foxx is now in her own vat of hot water, the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association issued an extended statement slamming Ms. Foxx for her actions.
Prosecutors must be held to the highest standard of legal ethics in the pursuit of justice. The actions of the Cook County State’s Attorney have fallen woefully short of this expectation. Through the repeated misleading and deceptive statements to the public on Illinois law and circumstances surrounding the Smollett dismissal, the State’s Attorney has failed in her most fundamental ethical obligations to the public. The IPBA condemns these actions.
My take on all this? If the state charges had gone through, the federal charges would probably not been pressed. Now they most likely will, and upon conviction, the maximum penalty of 5 years will be applied. Ms. Foxx will likely never appear in a courtroom again, except as a defendant. She should be disbarred from the legal profession entirely.
This is what happens when you don’t do the right thing. You get your ass barbecued by the dragon before he eats you alive.