March 28, 2019

Trump Says FBI and DOJ Will Investigate Jussie Smollett Case

He slammed the decision to drop all charges against the actor.

ZUMA

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President Donald Trump blasted the decision by Illinois prosecutors to drop all charges against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, announcing in a Thursday morning tweet that the FBI and Justice Department will be reviewing the events that lead to the stunning dismissal. 

It’s unclear, however, if the FBI or Justice Department have jurisdiction over the case.

Police had previously accused Smollett, who is gay and black, of orchestrating a January attack in which he alleged two men wearing MAGA hats had jumped him while they shouted racial and homophobic slurs. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office’s abrupt announcement on Thursday that it was dropping all charges against Smollett for allegedly filing a false report was met with shock and confusion. 

The president’s family and conservatives were among those to voice anger at the decision. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, also slammed the news and called it a “whitewash of justice.”

https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/1110588180657520641

This isn’t the first time Trump has weighed in on Smollett’s case. “What about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!” Trump tweeted shortly after Chicago police detailed allegations that Smollett had staged his own assault.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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