Chicago City Wire

Although Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Toomin has declined to release a special prosecutor’s investigative report into alleged ethical violations by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in the Jussie Smollett case, a state disciplinary commission could request a copy, according to a former judge who seeks to unseat the incumbent.

“Potentially, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, once it looks at the initial report, could require that Judge Toomin release the report to them because of their oversight of all attorney disciplinary problems,” Republican candidate for Cook County State's Attorney Pat O’Brien said at an Aug. 28 Zoom-hosted news conference. “I don't know that we're completely cut off from getting to the contents of that report. It just may be that it will take another effort by another body with different interests to make that request.”

O’Brien’s remarks came after special prosecutor Dan Webb released the summary of a report that explored the conduct of Foxx and her handling of the case involving Smollett. The Hollywood actor complained to police that he’d been attacked in Chicago by supporters of President Donald Trump and was subsequently arrested for allegedly staging the crime.

Pat O'Brien | File photo

“This is an important report because it tells us about a state’s attorney who is trying to get reelected and we’ve got to know how it is she may have abused the office and what kind of loss of integrity is detailed in that report,” said O’Brien, who was a Cook County Circuit Court judge for eight years. 

Webb has a duty to report Foxx to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission based on his findings of alleged ethical violations, according to O'Brien.

“Dan Webb has a duty to report problems to the disciplinary commission but he wasn't going to do that until we get the full 60-page report and was allowed to release it to them,” O’Brien told the Chicago City Wire. “There is a competing interest. As an attorney, you are required to report other attorneys who have code-of-ethics problems. Dan Webb has that duty. Does the fact that he can't release the report to them put him in conflict with that duty? I would say he still has a duty to report her.”

The state's attorney’s office and Foxx were represented by former federal judge Ruben Castillo before Toomin, who refused to release the report Aug. 28, as previously reported by NBC 5.

“The fact that [Castillo] asked to take a look at it before release and that he describes the report as containing inaccuracies leads me to conclude that, having said that, he would be looking to keep the report from the public itself,” said O’Brien, who has twice worked in the Cook County State's Attorney Office, handling high-profile cases while representing the state of Illinois. “Otherwise, why would you describe it as containing inaccuracies if, in effect, you wanted the report to be released as it was written?”