Skip to main content

President Trump Calls For FBI Review Of Smollett Case

CHICAGO (CelebrityAccess) — While Cook County prosecutors have the dropped state charges brought against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, he may not be out of the woods just yet.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to call for the FBI and Justice Department to ‘review’ the case.

In his tweet, the President described the decision to drop the charges as “outrageous” and an “embarrassment to our Nation.”

However, it is unclear exactly how a federal review of the prosecutor’s decision to drop charges would take shape, or under what jurisdiction such a review would operate.

Federal investigators are already looking into a different aspect of the case — a threatening letter that Smollett was alleged to have sent to himself at the Empire set through the U.S. mail, and which, if true, may constitute mail fraud.

Smollett gained notoriety earlier this year after police alleged that he staged a fake hate crime attack on himself in what investigators claimed was an attempt to gain public sympathy and increase his salary.

But in a surprise move on Tuesday, state prosecutors announced they were dropping charges against Smollett in exchange for the forfeiture of his $100,000 bond and an agreement to do community service.

Since then, assistant state’s attorney Joe Magats, who made the decision to drop the charges, has defended the move.

“We didn’t exonerate him,” Magats told the New York Times. “The charges against Smollett were dropped in return for his agreement to do community service, he said, and for forfeiting his bond to the city of Chicago.”

“Here’s the thing — we work to prioritize violent crime and the drivers of violent crime. Public safety is our number one priority. I don’t see Jussie Smollett as a threat to public safety,” Magats added.

Smollett was also announced as a nominee this week for the NAACP Image Awards, picking up a nod for Best Supporting Actor for a Television Series for his work on Fox’s ‘Empire.’

The post President Trump Calls For FBI Review Of Smollett Case appeared first on CelebrityAccess.



from CelebrityAccess https://ift.tt/2V7GByJ
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

APA Promotes Jules Urbanski To Music Agent

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) APA has promoted Jules Urbanski to agent in the concerts department, it was announced today by Jim Gosnell, President and CEO of APA.  Urbanski first joined APA in 2015, working in the mailroom before joining the agency’s Agent Training Program prior to his promotion. “Jules is an exceptional young man with an entrepreneurial spirit, vision and passion for the music industry,” commented Gosnell in making the announcement.  “I’ve admired his talents since first joining our team and am pleased to award his hard work and diligence with this promotion.” A graduate of the UNLV, Urbanski grew up on film and television sets with parents Diane Wilk, executive producer of The Nanny , and Doug Urbanski, Broadway producer, talent manager, and Academy Award-nominated film producer. Urbanski works closely with APA partner and co-head of talent, Jim Osborne, with whom he shares crossover clients, including T.I, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Tyrese Gibson....
Post a Comment
Read more

Bridgestone’s New Smash Plate A Hit – Except In Rochester, NY

NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) Trouble appears to be a-brewin’ over a concessions item at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville that appears to be conspicuously close to a dish that is held near and dear to the people of Rochester, N.Y. The arena, home to the NHL’s Predators and all of the arena events that cross paths with Music City, recently introduced the “Smash Plate” two grilled cheeseburgers on a base of diced potatoes and macaroni salad, smothered with onions, hot chili sauce and mustard. Intermission = the perfect time to try our “Smash Plate” It contains 2 grilled cheeseburgers on a base of diced potatoes & macaroni salad, topped off with onions, hot chili sauce, and mustard! #WPGvsNSH pic.twitter.com/XC1aZYYrLh — BridgestoneArena F&B (@SMASHVILLE_FnB) April 29, 2018 What could possibly be wrong with that? Nothing, really, unless you’re a proud citizen of Rochester, N.Y., home to a delicacy invented at the Nick Tahou Hots eatery. It has become to Rochester what ...
Post a Comment
Read more

AWAL Hires Thomas Fiss As Vice President of Strategic Marketing, North America

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Kobalt’s recording arm AWAL has hired Thomas Fiss as Vice President, Strategic Marketing, North America. In this new role, Fiss will oversee creative multichannel marketing, including conceptualizing and producing content offerings and partner integrations for AWAL artists, to grow relationships with brands, media outlets and other external organizations. Fiss joins AWAL with more than 10 years of music industry and partnership marketing experience. Most recently, he served as a department head at Life is Beautiful Music Festival, where he managed brand partnerships, including strategy and execution. He is also the co-founder of Partner.ly, a software platform that simplifies the artist and brand partnership process. Prior to beginning his marketing career, Fiss was a recording artist signed to Capitol Records in the US. Commenting on their latest hire, AWAL President, North America Ron Cerrito said: “We are reimagining the construct and type of serv...
Post a Comment
Read more