CHICAGO (AP) - Records show Cook County’s top prosecutor asked Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to let the FBI investigate the alleged attack on Jussie Smollett before the actor was charged with lying to authorities.
Email and text messages given to the Chicago Sun-Times by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx show she made the effort after former first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff Tina Tchen contacted Foxx to set up a telephone conversation with a Smollett relative.
The ensuing conversations were cited by Foxx in recusing herself from Smollett’s prosecution.
Foxx tells the Sun-Times the relative expressed concerns over leaked information that media outlets attributed to “police sources.”
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the FBI was involved from the start but there was never talk of turning the case over.
Smollett is accused of lying to the police about the Jan. 29 attack.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/
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