CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the Jussie Smollett case (all times local):
1:15 p.m.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the city plans to try to recoup the money it spent on the Jussie Smollett investigation from the “Empire” actor himself.
Emanuel spoke Thursday on WGN radio, saying the Chicago Police Department is figuring out how much money it spent investigating Smollett’s claim that he was the victim of a racial and homophobic attack.
The mayor says once city attorneys finalize the number, the city will contact Smollett and his attorneys.
Prosecutors offered little explanation and infuriated Chicago’s police chief and mayor when they dropped felony charges that alleged Smollett made a false police report. Yet prosecutors still insist the actor faked the attack.
Emanuel called the decision to drop the case “a whitewash of justice.” He told WGN radio that taxpayers should get their resources back. Emanuel says if Smollett makes the payment, it would be “a small way of” acknowledging guilt.
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12:40 p.m.
The ex-chief of staff for former first lady Michelle Obama says she approached Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx regarding the Jussie Smollett case on behalf of the actor’s family.
Tina Tchen released a statement Wednesday saying she’s a friend of Smollett’s family and knows Foxx “from prior work together.”
Tchen says her “sole activity” was to put the prosecutor in touch with “an alleged victim’s family.” Tchen says the Smollett family “had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public.”
Email and text messages that Foxx’s office provided to the Chicago Sun-Times show Tchen contacted Foxx to set up a telephone conversation with a Smollett relative. Foxx told the Sun-Times the relative expressed concerns over leaked information.
Foxx on Wednesday told the Chicago Tribune she regretted dealing with the Smollett relative in the investigation’s early phases.
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11:20 a.m.
Prosecutors say they will notify media outlets if Jussie Smollett’s lawyers try to expunge the “Empire” actor’s record in a now-sealed criminal case that accused him of filing a false police report.
Prosecutors made the promise during a Chicago court hearing with media attorneys on Thursday, two days after they infuriated Chicago’s police chief and mayor by abruptly dropping the 16 felony counts against Smollett.
Prosecutors still insist the actor faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in January but have offered little explanation as to why they dropped the case and wiped his record from public view.
Lawyers for major news outlets including The Associated Press told the judge Thursday that court proceedings haven’t been transparent and that “the public is entitled to know what happened.”
Judge LeRoy Martin says court proceedings followed the law, adding: “There’s no nefariousness.”
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8 a.m.
President Donald Trump says the FBI and Department of Justice will review the case of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago.
Prosecutors offered little explanation and infuriated Chicago’s police chief and mayor this week when they dropped charges against Smollett related to making a false police report. Yet prosecutors still insist the actor faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in January.
Trump tweeted early Thursday: “FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous Jussie Smollett case in Chicago. It is an embarrassment to our Nation!”
Smollett’s attorney says two brothers who claim they worked with the actor to stage the attack are lying. Investigators alleged Smollett staged the attack with the hopes of gaining attention and advancing his career.
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Check out the AP’s complete coverage of the Jussie Smollett case

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