Free Republic

Cook County Republicans might have just been handed their best shot at recapturing an office they have not held since Bill Clinton was president. Special Prosecutor Dan Webb’s finding of “substantial abuses of discretion” in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case virtually ensures that Democratic incumbent Kim Foxx will still be answering questions about the matter right up until the November election. “Aside from him coming out with an actual criminal charge against her, it’s about as devastating a report as a sitting state’s attorney can have leveled against them,” Cook County Republican Chairman...

We don’t know why Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx went to bat for actor Jussie Smollett. With Monday’s release of a damning statement from special prosecutor Dan Webb, we have an independent review examining how Foxx blew this case: She cut a deal for a celebrity defendant and misled the public numerous times about her actions. Worse, she made a mockery of a prosecutor’s supposedly equitable treatment of all defendants. Webb cleared Foxx and her office of potential criminal conduct and found no sign that anyone tried to improperly influence Foxx. Good news, we guess, for Foxx’s reelection. Otherwise,...

The special prosecutor investigating how Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx carried out the Jussie Smollett hoax investigation has found “substantial abuses of discretion” in Foxx’s actions. The former Empire star claimed that he was attacked by MAGA hat-wearing racists who beat him and poured bleach on him in downtown Chicago in the dead of night during below zero weather. But a police investigation claimed that Smollett invented the attack. Smollett was arrested and charged with the fraud. But Prosecutor Kim Foxx dismissed the case and released Smollett, dropping the charges. Foxx’s rush to release Smollett sparked an investigation, led by Dan...

In a statement on the conclusions of his investigation, special prosecutor Dan Webb sharply criticized the handling of the Smollett case by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her assistant prosecutors, saying their handling was marked by disarray and misleading statements. Foxx’s office surprised and angered many in Chicago by dropping charges that accused the former “Empire” actor of staging an alleged racist and homophobic attack against himself. Smollett is still adamant that the attack was real and wasn’t a publicity hoax. Webb’s findings announced Monday came after charges were restored against Smollett by the same special prosecutor in...

The special prosecutor assigned to investigate the handling of the Jussie Smollett case says Chicago’s top prosecutor, Kim Foxx, engaged in “substantial abuses” in letting the actor go free.“The [Office of the Special Prosecutor] did develop evidence that establishes substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures by the [Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office] in prosecuting and resolving the Initial Smollett Case,” wrote Dan Webb — who was tapped by Chicago Judge Michael Toomin to re-probe the case — in a statement Monday.Shortly after the Chicago Police Department found Smollett allegedly faked a hate crime against himself and threw him in...

I have attached a recent announcement by Cooke County State's Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx where she very plainly and without explanations has decreed that her office has instituted a "presumption of dismissal" for a host of charges. She makes this proclamation under some arbitrary theory that the offenders were protesters and somehow had the right to commit crimes due to the unfortunate death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Our members did not arrest peaceful protesters. Our members arrested violent looters and criminals who took advantage of a situation. As President Trump has said, these individuals were simply criminals and domestic...

Gun violence is surging in Chicago and we’re all shattered by the loss of life, including young lives caught in the crossfire. It is harder than ever for all of us — and especially police — to do our jobs due to COVID-19. The community is frustrated, they’re demanding reform and, sadly, some people are looting. In this environment, it’s natural to look for others to blame. After all, none of us — police, prosecutors, judges or corrections officers — are solely in control of who gets arrested, prosecuted, sentenced and incarcerated. At the moment, the elected leadership at the...

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has dropped over 25,000 felony cases, including charges of murder and the alleged hate crime hoax from former Empire star Jussie Smollett, according to an analysis released by the Chicago Tribune on Monday. The Chicago Tribune reported: During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%. In all, a total of 25,183 people had their felony cases dismissed under Foxx through November 2019, up from 18,694...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was at odds with top prosecutor Kim Foxx on Monday after she suggested the surge of lootings on a lack of serious charges earlier this summer that may have encouraged more of the same. All eyes were on Chicago Sunday evening as scores of residents were seen breaking into stores and vandalizing property in a show a widespread looting along Magnificent Mile. A clash between the Chicago Police Department and civilians upset over false claims of an officer-involved shooting of a minor resulted in an embattled night of unrest.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is dropping felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses . . . During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor. Foxx, a Democrat, swept into the state’s attorney’s office in 2016 vowing to reform the criminal justice system and reduce the population of Cook County Jail, which disproportionately holds low-income people of color. She is up for reelection in November. The Tribune found that Foxx’s higher rates of dropped cases included people accused...

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx has dismissed more than 25,000 felony cases - including many involving charges of murder and other serious crimes - in her first three years on the job, a new report shows. Foxx gained notoriety last year when she dropped felony charges against Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack on himself in January 2019. The Chicago Tribune on Monday published an analysis of Foxx's overall record on dropping charges, revealing that she has done so at a rate that's 35 percent higher than her predecessor. In the first three...

It’s been almost a year since Dan Webb was named special prosecutor to investigate Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s epic bungling of the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax case. In just a few weeks, on Sept. 24, early voting begins. There is a choice between incumbent Foxx, the Democrat protege of Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Democratic boss and president of the County Board, and Patrick O’Brien, a longtime criminal prosecutor and former judge. Voters are waiting for Webb’s report and answers to a series of troubling questions: Did Foxx give Smollett — the Hollywood actor and Obama White...

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx confirmed Tuesday that her office will err on the side of dismissing charges stemming from arrests at demonstrations and for citywide curfew violations during the week of protests and civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Between May 30 and June 6, about 5,000 people across the county were arrested. Half of those resulted in misdemeanor charges, a quarter resulted in felony charges and the rest were curfew violations and disorderly conduct cases. More than 800 of those misdemeanors will be reviewed and likely will be dismissed, the top prosecutor told the...

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is preparing to drop charges against many of those arrested for violating curfew earlier this month during days of protest and civil unrest, according to a local media report. How many of these cases will be dismissed or what criteria will need to be met for these cases to be dropped is not known, but internal emails obtained by Fox 32 shed light on the plan. “Cases are to be nolled (dismissed) where curfew violations or city disorderly conduct was the basis of a stop that led to a felony or misdemeanor case,” First...

CHICAGO - Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, according to an internal email obtained by FOX 32, plans to drop most if not all charges against many of those arrested for curfew violations during protests earlier this month, including felony charges filed after police followed up. FOX 32 obtained the internal email last week from First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats, reading in part: "Cases are to be nolled (dismissed) where curfew violations or city disorderly conduct was the basis of a stop that led to a felony or misdemeanor case....(i)f there are misdemeanor disorderlies where the conduct that was...

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx won her primary race in convincing fashion on Tuesday, according to returns reported by NBC Chicago. Foxx was thrust into the national spotlight in 2019 when she dropped charges against former Empire star Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a hate crime against himself in downtown Chicago and blaming the attack, involving a noose and bleach, on supporters of Donald Trump.

Though Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx won Tuesday’s four-way primary in her bid for reelection, her comparatively weak performance compared to 2016 suggests she won’t necessarily cruise to victory in November. Foxx had won 48% of the Democratic vote and was leading her nearest opponent, Bill Conway, by about 15 percentage points. With 95% of suburban precincts reporting, Foxx had won just 43% of the Democratic vote, seven points ahead of Conway, who conceded to Foxx Tuesday night. I see more than a hint of political vulnerability in these results. Though Foxx has dismissed the controversy over her handling...

CHICAGO — Kim Foxx, the Chicago area’s top prosecutor, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday against three challengers who zeroed in on her handling of the Jussie Smollett criminal case. ...

“I want to be clear,” Foxx said during a Democratic candidate debate. “This race is not about one case.” You gave a break to a TV star who faked a racist, homophobic hate crime in Chicago and blamed it on Trump supporters, a wild, irresponsible claim that stoked racial and political tensions. He had Obama White House friends. One called you on his behalf. He was indicted on 16 counts, but you cut him loose and dropped the charges, and lied about “recusing” yourself. I agree that this race is about more than Smollett. It’s about people in Cook County...

When apparent hoaxer Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s charges were controversially dropped last year for allegedly faking a hate crime incident, the twitter page for the Empire writers rubbed it in everyone’s faces. Now, liberal megadonor George Soros is giving millions in an apparent effort to help the controversial Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, whose office dropped the charges against Smollett, remain in power. The Big Three are ignoring it. A LexisNexis search showed that the Big Three (ABC News, NBC News, CBS News) failed to report this information between Feb. 20-Feb. 24.