The Land of Lincoln is broke, buried under a mountain of debt thanks to unrealistic pension obligations. In sum, the state owes at least $133 billion in pension and health benefits to retirees.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the justice system is no better than it was in the 1930s: It’s just a corrupt, just as two-tiered, and just as liable to prosecute innocent people as it is to let the guilty go free.
Only these days, it’s not a mob connection that will get you off, it’s your status. And, perhaps, your skin color.
You may recall that black, gay actor Jussie Smollett was recently brought up on charges for staging a hate crime. In all, Chicago PD charged him with not one, not three, but 16 counts of “disorderly conduct” after he “allegedly” hired two Nigerian men to ‘beat him up’ so he could claim that a couple of white, MAGA hat-wearing, bigoted supporters of POTUS Donald Trump did it. Had he ever been convicted for half of those, he would have spent more than a decade behind bars.
Well, those charges have magically vanished. On Wednesday, Smollett and his lawyers spent less than five minutes in court, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, before prosecutors dropped all charges and Cook County Circuit Judge Steven G. Watkins sealed the case. So not only is this a farcical injustice, Chicagoans won’t even get to see who is responsible for committing this naked corruption.
Chicago PD Superintendent Eddie Johnson, the Sun-Times added, was in the middle of a police cadet graduation when he heard the news that Smollett was going to walk. The paper said he was “furious” because the case against the “Empire” actor was “rock solid.” (Related: It was a HOAX! Jussie Smollett hate crime “attack” was staged, say police… actual police work unmasked flimsy plot to stoke racial hatred across America – UPDATED.)
Enter Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who is also black.
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police has asked for a federal investigation into her conduct after she interfered in the case by asking Johnson to turn it over to the FBI at the request of a former Obama administration official, Christina M. "Tina" Tchen. From 2011 to 2017 she served as an assistant to the former president and was first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff.
“Private attorneys are not allowed to interfere”
Two weeks ago, the Sun-Times and other sources reported that Tchen — also a Chicago attorney (and remember where the Obama’s hail from — Chicago) reached out to Foxx via email and made the request. The fact is, according to Chicago PD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, the FBI was involved in the case from the outset because it involved federal hate crime allegations. But, he added, there was never any thought to turning the case over to the feds.
Now, however, is a different story; the Chicago FOP is exactly right.
Foxx eventually recused herself from the Smollett case after making her request to Johnson, but apparently that recusal was only temporary. According to CWB Chicago, in a letter to John R. Lausch, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, FOP President Kevin Graham wrote that “private attorneys are not allowed to interfere with ongoing police investigations, particularly at the request of private individuals associated with subjects being investigated by the police.”
Calling Foxx’s recusal late and “wholly insufficient,” Graham continued: “In order for Ms. Foxx to properly charge and try this case, her entire office should have recused itself and a special prosecutor been appointed.”
Speaking of Obama, remember when he and his attorneys general sicced the Justice Department on local police agencies they believed had behaved unethically or were racially biased? Well, turnabout is fair play; the Trump Justice Department really needs to look into this travesty of justice.
The case began as one about skin color; looks like it's going away for the same reason.
Read more about the rampant corruption in Chicago’s justice system at Corruption.news.
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