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State's Attorney Kim Foxx — who recused herself from the Jussie Smollett case in February after exchange text messages with Smollett family friends — said there are a lot of emotions surrounding the case, but insisted that her office has "to be driven by facts."

"There's some people who were never gonna be satisfied unless Mr. Smollett spent many nights in prison, and then there were others who believed that the charging of 16 counts of disorderly conduct was excessive," she told CNN affiliate WBEZ.

"Right now, there's a lot of emotion. And I wholeheartedly believe that in our work we cannot be driven by emotions. We have to be driven by facts," she added.

Some background: Foxx recused herself from the Smollett case after text messages showed Smollett family friend Tina Tchen reached out to Foxx on February 1. Tchen wrote the family had "concerns about the investigation."

Foxx emailed Tchen saying in part, "Spoke to Superintendent Johnson. I convinced him to (r)each out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get back to me shortly."

Later another person, identified by Foxx's office as a family friend, asked the prosecutor whether they could talk on the phone. She says Tchen gave her Foxx's number.

Hours later, Foxx texts the unidentified family friend that she "spoke to the (police) superintendent earlier, he made the ask. Trying to figure out the logistics."

The person responds: "Omg this would be a huge victory."