Shortly after Kim Foxx agreed to an independent investigation of her involvement in the Jussie Smollett case, texts between herself and communications team staff members leaked. The texts reportedly occurred after the Cook County State’s Attorney recused herself from working on the case.
The texts were initially obtained by CNN, as The Root reported back in March. Along with conversations about Smollett, Foxx also made reference to R. Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty to the 10 charges of aggravated sexual assault against him.
More details regarding the texts, as obtained by HuffPost:
After recusing herself from the case, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx called Smollett a “washed up celeb” and criticized the number of charges that were filed against him.
“So......I’m recused but when people accuse of overcharging cases ... 16 counts on a class 4 [felony] becomes exhibit A,” Foxx said in a text message to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats on March 8. She sent the message on the same day a grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts accusing him of faking a hate crime against himself.
“Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts,” Foxx continued, referencing the criminal sexual abuse charges that were filed against accused pedophile R. Kelly two weeks earlier. “Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16 counts.”“On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it’s indicative of something we should be looking at generally,” she said. “Just because we can charge something doesn’t mean we should.”
“It’s not who we want to be,” she later added.
“I was elected to bring criminal justice reform, and that includes intentionality, consistency and discretion. I will continue to uphold these guiding principles,” Foxx told CNN in a statement Tuesday night.
Charges were dropped against Smollett on March 26, prompting backlash from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
In reference to R. Kelly, the R&B artist’s attorney, Steven Greenberg, expressed his concerns to TMZ, calling her conversations with her staff “dysfunctional and chaotic” and claims she is allowing her personal bias against his client to color her actions.