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* Tribune…
A Cook County judge has ordered Google to turn over Jussie Smollett’s emails, photos, location data and private messages for an entire year as part of the special prosecutor’s investigation into the purported attack on the actor.
Two sweeping search warrants, obtained by the Chicago Tribune, provide the first public glimpse at the direction of the probe by special prosecutor Dan Webb more than four months into the investigation.
The warrants, filed last month in Circuit Court, sought a trove of documentation from Smollett and his manager’s Google accounts — not just emails but also drafted and deleted messages; any files in their Google Drive cloud storage services; any Google Voice texts, calls and contacts; search and web browsing history; and location data.
Investigators sought a full year’s data — from November 2018 to November 2019 — even though the key events in the controversy took place between late January and late March 2019. Authorities could be looking for any incriminating remarks from Smollett or his manager, especially in the months after State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office abruptly dismissed disorderly conduct charges against the then-”Empire” actor just weeks after his indictment.
Seems excessive.
* Politico…
Bill Conway, a candidate for Cook County state’s attorney, is out with a new ad that has him invoking a line from criminal justice reformer and incumbent Kim Foxx. “We have a mass incarceration problem,” Conway says in the opening of the ad. The short piece also juxtaposes video of Foxx and Jussie Smollett, the actor who says he was beaten by homophobic, MAGA-loving thugs. That’s when a voice-over says Conway “will end the scandals and corruption that keep our criminal justice system broken.”
And here’s another one…
* Greg Hinz…
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has called in some heavy legal reinforcements to help her deal with the continuing probe of how she and her office charged and then dropped charges against TV star Jussie Smollett over an allegedly faked downtown attack.
Retained to represent Foxx’s office is the Chicago office of Akerman and specifically litigation partner Ruben Castillo, who joined the law firm this fall after stepping down as chief judge of the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Hired by Foxx personally is prominent Washington, D.C., attorney Michael Bromwich, a spokesman for Foxx’s campaign confirmed. Bromwich is a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Justice but probably is best known for representing witness Christine Blasey Ford in U.S. Senate hearings on the confirmation of then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
* Tribune…
Although Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx submitted nearly three times the number of signatures needed to be placed on the ballot, challengers argued on Monday that more than half of her nominating petitions were improperly completed and she should be disqualified from seeking reelection.
Attorneys for Bob Fioretti, who is running against Foxx, said that a review of her 20,762 signatures showed that thousands of them were problematic — either the address didn’t match the signee properly or the collector didn’t label the petition with the proper address listed on voter records. Ultimately, the discrepancies represented a “pattern of fraud,” attorneys argued. […]
Foxx’s attorneys said that there is no evidence to support such bold claims and that Foxx collected well above the required number of signatures, anticipating that some might “innocently” be deemed illegitimate. Residents signing at shopping centers, train stations and other public venues may not always give the right address, and some enthusiastic residents might sign for their entire families — a move that’s improper but not illegal.
From last month…
Fioretti told Playbook he has a wealthy benefactor helping pay for the attorneys and researchers needed to fuel his effort.
If that’s true, he hasn’t yet reported any contributions, in-kind or otherwise, that would support such an effort.
From the Foxx campaign…
“The objection presented by Mrs. Foxx’s perennial candidate, is nothing more than a press release masquerading as an objection,” said Campaign Attorney Mike Kreloff. “His team disregarded legal procedure, had no evidence to offer, and as a result made a mockery of his case and his candidacy.”
* Speaking of Fioretti…
Former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti is ramping up his challenge of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s re-election campaign.
Fioretti is calling for the state’s attorney to have her campaign chairwoman and treasurer resign after what he calls a “pattern of lawlessness and dishonesty.”
The Democrat claimed cell phone video shows Nakia Gibson battered a man last week who was trying to serve her outside her Lansing home with a subpoena regarding another election case.
* Foxx also announced her campaign team this week…
Chrystian Woods who serves as Campaign Manager has assembled a diverse team established to support Kim Foxx. Woods has a lengthy background in politics, where she has consistently served progressive candidates. She most recently worked for Beto O’Rourke’s presidential bid as National Director of Outreach. Prior to that, Woods held several top leadership roles in the Democratic Party of Georgia and served as a senior advisor in the coordinated effort to elect Stacey Abrams. During Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, Woods led the work to flip two of the largest metropolitan counties in Georgia for the first time in decades.
Christopher Scott will serve as the new Deputy Campaign Manager. As a native midwesterner, Scott has served in the region for several years. Most recently he worked as the Executive Director of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus where he oversaw daily operations for the oldest legislative black caucus in the country. Prior to that, Scott served as the Minority Engagement and Special Projects Manager for the Ohio Democratic Party. Scott began his lengthy career in politics as a congressional intern for Congressman John Lewis in addition to working for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign in Ohio. Scott has also worked on several races in Texas including helping with coordinated efforts under Battleground Texas to elect Wendy Davis as Texas Governor.
Sylvia Ewing brings a breadth of local media knowledge and will be promoted to serve as the Communications Advisor for Friends for Foxx. She has a long history of working with Chicago’s media partners in addition to her outstanding strategic communication work for several local organizations. Ewing also previously worked on Chuy Garcia’s mayoral campaign.
Claudia Tristán will now serve as the Communications Director. Tristán joins Friends for Foxx following her work as Director of Latinx Messaging at the Beto for America presidential campaign. While there she oversaw Spanish and English language content geared towards Latinx voters. Prior to that, she worked as the Bilingual Press Secretary for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico. Tristán was previously an immigration journalist on the border where she covered the Trump Administration’s deadly immigration policies including family separation, Migrant Protection Protocol, and child migrant deaths in government care. She has experience in both English and Spanish broadcast news.
Neal Stevens-Jackson has extensive digital experience and will serve as Digital Director. Stevens-Jackson helped efforts to elect Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker while working on his campaign as Social Media Coordinator. Prior to that, she worked with the League of Conservation Voters in Washington D.C. where she is originally from.
Lamar C. Brown, a native Chicagoan, is joining Friends for Foxx as Political Director. Brown has strong ties to the Chicago community after his work in the Office of the City Clerk as Director of Intergovernmental and Community Affairs. He previously served as Assistant Sergeant-At-Arms for the Chicago City Council and for the 8th Ward Regular Democratic Organization.
Darrin Owens joins the Friends for Foxx campaign as Field Director. Owens is coming off of the Kamala Harris presidential campaign where he worked as Regional Organizing Director in Nevada. There he focused on engaging and mobilizing African American and faith-based constituencies. In 2018, Owens served on a coordinated campaign to elect Stacey Abrams. His work in community organizing began while in college when he worked as a campus fellow for the Hillary for America campaign.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:23 pm
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Technically, Fioretti would not have to report the in-kinds from the “wealthy benefactor” because he is not the objector.
Comment by Oak Parker Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:29 pm
Are the taxpayers paying for Madam State’s Attorneys lawyers?
Comment by 19th Ward Guy Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:32 pm
Who is paying for Ackerman and Castillo?
Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:32 pm
JB won with a campaign team that wasn’t from here, so it can be done, but it helps to have $172 million in your back pocket. The Foxx campaign will probably have less than that.
Comment by The Captain Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:34 pm
Lots of former Beto employees and even a Kamala one too. So much recent success on those resumes….
Comment by Just Another Anon Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:35 pm
Foxx’s attorneys: “some enthusiastic residents might sign for their entire families — a move that’s improper but not illegal.”
Illinois Election Code (10 ILCS 5/7-10):
Whoever forges the name of a signer upon any petition required by this Article is deemed guilty of a forgery and on conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly.
Comment by Practical Politics Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:51 pm
Bob, how can we miss you if you won’t go away?
Comment by Northsider Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 2:54 pm
Wow, quite the stable of political consultants. Too bad they ain’t from around these parts. Most of them anyway.
Comment by Al Briteback Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 3:04 pm
Foxx said she’d cooperate and be transparent. If that were true her office would comply and any conflicts would be turned over to the AG. Clearly the goal here is to not comply until after the primary. Kim was an unemployed lawyer that let her license lapse when Preckwinkle enlisted her to run. Preckwinkle wanted somebody that could be controlled and saw the lack of experience as a virtue. This can’t end up well for Foxx. The 24% that Preckwinkle got in the mayoral race is indicative of how people in the city feel about her. County wide her numbers should be worse. People in the city and county were refusing to sign petitions for the cook county Democratic Party slate. This will be an interesting primary. Preckwinkle may have destroyed the county party.
Comment by Trapped in the ‘burbs Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 3:15 pm
== Seems excessive ==
It does. But then again, if Smollett was planning his caper months ahead of the alleged incident date, maybe it’s appropriate.
And Fioretti’s petition challenge is going nowhere. The old “pattern of fraud” complaint is the last card to play when you haven’t been able to successfully strike enough bad signatures.
Comment by Roman Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 3:16 pm
Good for Webb. I don’t think it is excessive at all. And Foxx’s super lawyering up indicates it is not
And we have spokespeople for the State Attorney saying forgery is ok on petitions?
Wait to Smollett finds out delete key doesn’t mean delete
They should change that key’s name
Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 3:44 pm
===She most recently worked for Beto O’Rourke’s presidential bid as National Director of Outreach. Prior to that, Woods held several top leadership roles in the Democratic Party of Georgia and served as a senior advisor in the coordinated effort to elect Stacey Abrams. During Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, Woods led the work to flip two of the largest metropolitan counties in Georgia for the first time in decades.===
So her campaign manager has never worked on a winning campaign, and more importantly, has no IL campaign experience. Go get ‘em!
Comment by Boone's is Back Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 4:00 pm
They didn’t mention that Foxx’s new personal attorney Bromwich was also a key consultant for the City during the DOJ investigation of the police department. Some names just keep popping up…
Comment by Leslie K Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 4:02 pm
Apparently Foxx must have downsized the SAO and gotten rid of ASAs handling election fraud cases. Otherwise someone from the office could have told her campaign attorneys signing another person’s name - no matter how enthusiastically- is illegal.
Comment by West Side the Best Side Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 4:02 pm
The out of towners. 3 layers deep before you get to a local to work the campaign? , thought we had some good campers here ?
Comment by NorthSideNoMore Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 4:21 pm
If Foxx weren’t an AA the Dems would dump her in a NY minute. It’s disgraceful this person is Cook County’s Chief legal officer.
Comment by Sue Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 4:50 pm
the words from the Foxx attorney that signing another person’s name on a candidate’s petition is not illegal are actually in print in the paper. for people to read. and learn the wrong thing. It is truly shocking that they are pushing this ignorant line. election law 101 and Kim Foxx flunks.
Is someone doing a constant tally for how much this Smollett investigation is costing the people of Cook County? Webb is pro bono, but there are other costs. Is the additional attorney for Fox pro bono? how much in internal costs are there? Complete waste of tax dollars.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 10:52 pm
Thursday headline in Sun Times….Webb Browser. LOL though the Foxx administration (Empire?) is awful.
Comment by amalia Thursday, Jan 9, 20 @ 8:54 am
“ the words from the Foxx attorney that signing another person’s name on a candidate’s petition is not illegal are actually in print in the paper. for people to read. and learn the wrong thing.“
Ed Mullin was talking about the people getting the signatures, not the people making the signatures. The people making the wrong signatures clearly did something illegal, the people collecting them didn’t.
Jeffrey Greenspan claimed that a large number of bad signatures was a “pattern of fraud” and Fox’s attorneys were reacting to that.
Context matters.
Comment by All This Thursday, Jan 9, 20 @ 9:43 am
if context matters more than actions, then we are in real trouble in Cook County.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 9, 20 @ 11:40 am
No I mean you didn’t understand what Ed Mullin was saying.
Comment by All This Thursday, Jan 9, 20 @ 4:17 pm