Jussie Smollett's Cook County criminal documents ordered unsealedAn Illinois judge on Thursday ordered "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett's criminal case file unsealed, setting up the release of a wealth of information surrounding the controversial -- and often confusing -- case.
Cook County judge Steven G. Watkins' decision came months after a dizzying set of events: First, Smollett alleged he'd been the victim of a hate crime; after an extensive investigation, Chicago cops arrested Smollett and accused him of faking the supposed attack; and then, Cook County prosecutors suddenly dropped the charges against Smollett and his case was sealed.
But not anymore -- at least, soon.
When the state attorney asked whether the office could have more time to redact personal information from the files, Watkins advised prosecutors to "act as if the documents were never sealed in the first place."
https://www.foxnews.com/us/jussie-smollett-criminal-docs-ordered-to-be-unsealedOnetime Michelle Obama staffer evades subpoena in Smollett-Foxx case, process server saysTina Tchen, the former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, declined Wednesday to be served with a subpoena by a retired Illinois judge seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett case, according to the process server.
In an email to former Illinois appellate judge Sheila O'Brien obtained by Fox News, the process server wrote that a security guard at the Chicago law firm where Tchen is a partner "called up to her and spoke with her and she said that she in [sic] never going to accept service and to not allow me up to their Law firm.
"She knows all about this Subpoena," the server added.
Edward Ryan, who runs the private investigation firm that employs the process server, spoke about the incident with The Chicago Sun-Times.
"I don’t know why she’d turn it [the subpoena] down, she’ll be served eventually," Ryan told the paper.
Tchen did not immediately respond to Fox News' requests for comment.
The subpoena would have required Tchen to appear at a May 31 hearing on O'Brien's request for a special prosecutor and provide "any and all documents, notes, phone records, texts, tape recordings made or received at any time, concerning your conversations with [Cook County State's Attorney] Kim Foxx in re: Jussie Smollett."
Tchen reached out to Foxx on behalf of Smollett's family during the investigation into whether the "Empire" actor faked a hate crime attack on the streets of Chicago earlier this year. Smollett was eventually charged with 16 felony counts of lying to authorities in February, but the charges were, to the astonishment of many, dropped on March 26.
In March, The Sun-Times reported that Tchen texted Foxx on Feb. 1 saying she “wanted to give you a call on behalf of Jussie Smollett and family who I know. They have concerns about the investigation.” The paper also reported that on Feb. 20, Foxx emailed Tchen: "Spoke to [Chicago Police] Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson. I convinced him to reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get to me shortly." Foxx had announced the day before that she was leaving the case, only for her office to clarify the following month that she had "informally separated herself from the decision-making over the case."
Tchen has denied trying to sway the outcome of the Smollett case.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ex-obama-staffer-tina-tchen-dodges-subpoena-in-smollett-foxx-case-process-server-says