Chicago City Wire

Controversial Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is being criticized for calling the prosecution of Jussie Smollet as “mob justice.”  

“Kim Foxx is stupid, crooked and a joke - just as dishonest and bad as Smollett - embarrassment to Chicago and decent lawyers everywhere,” Howard Tullman, a serial entrepreneur, author and attorney who is general managing partner at G2T3V, LLC, said on Twitter.

Foxx penned a commentary to the Chicago Sun-Times about the Smollet issue.

“Given the reputational price Smollett paid, the $10,000 bond we held, and the fact that he’d never been accused of a violent crime, my office made the decision not to further pursue a criminal conviction," Foxx wrote. "This story should have ended there, as thousands upon thousands of non-prosecuted cases do every day." 

She blamed Smollet’s successful prosecution to a “mob.”

“In Smollett’s case, the mob was relentless, organized and effective. A judge appointed a special prosecutor with an unlimited budget to reopen the investigation into a nonviolent Hollywood actor, a complete disregard for the discretion that prosecutors must have to be effective and independent, Foxx wrote. "As a former prosecutor, Dan Webb knows that prosecutors have that power, and more importantly, knows there is no 'abuse of discretion' standard. In fact, the Supreme Court has recognized the 'wide discretion' of prosecutors, and that courts should defer to the original prosecutorial decision. Webb knows this and could refer to his friend Bill Barr’s own remarks."

Many have said Foxx herself was lucky to escape charges of prosecutorial misconduct in the case.

“Along the way, the same special prosecutor pursued a targeted, predetermined 'investigation' of my involvement with the case," Foxx wrote. "Knowing I had done nothing wrong but that objecting to the process would be painted as guilt, I cooperated. Predictably, the probe found no criminal wrongdoing and still un-ironically accused me of “abuses of discretion.” It’s a playbook: attack and marginalize anyone fighting to create a more just system, one that recognizes the rule of law."

Special Prosecutor Dan Webb said Foxx's office had made multiple mistakes while investigating the case but would not be criminally charged.

“As a result of this investigation, the OSP (Office of the Special Prosecutor) has concluded that it did not develop evidence that would support any criminal charges against State's Attorney Foxx or any individual working at the CCSAO (Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office),” Webb wrote in August 2020.

Smollett is currently serving 75 days in prison for lying to police about an alleged race crime he set up with a pair of Nigerian brothers.

Foxx has been under fire for out-of-control crime in Chicago. The city saw 800 deaths last year in including that of a retired Evergreen Park special education teacher Denise M. Huguelet who was shot to death after a White Sox game. She allowed the two men arrested in her murder to be released and implicated in another shooting.

From 2016 to 2019, her first three years in office, Foxx dismissed 30 percent of felony charges.