State's Attorney Kim Foxx called Jussie Smollett a 'washed up celeb who lied to cops' and told her deputy prosecutor that the Empire actor was being overcharged in newly released texts sent two weeks after she 'recused' herself

State's Attorney Kim Foxx continued to meddle in the Jussie Smollett case after 'recusing' herself, calling him a 'washed up celeb who lied to cops' and telling the prosecutor she had handed the case over to that he was being overcharged just two weeks before the case was dropped, new documents have revealed.

In messages sent weeks after she recused herself from the case Foxx wrote to Joe Magats, the prosecutor who she had handed the case over to, and appeared to compare Smollett's charges to those leveled at another celebrity defendant, R. Kelly.

She said: 'Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts.

'Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16.'

She was referring to the 16 count grand jury indictment Smollett was hit with for allegedly staging a hoax attack on himself on January 29.

Foxx went on: 'On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it's indicative of something we should be looking at generally. Just because we can charge something doesn't mean we should.'

'Agreed', Magats replied.

Kim Foxx sent these text messages to her deputy on March 8 after a grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 counts of lying to police. She had already 'recused' herself for speaking to Smollett's family but continued to interfere in the case by telling her deputies that the charges were excessive. The charges were dropped two weeks later

The case against Smollett, 36, was suddenly and unexpectedly dropped last month by Foxx's office in questionable circumstances and questions surrounding Foxx's alleged role in that decision have run rampant since.

Foxx said it was 'not who we want to be' to charge someone 'because we can' despite a grand jury deciding on the 16 Class 4 felonies

Magats said during an interview afterwards that he still believed Smollett was guilty. Foxx claimed it was never her decision to have the charges dropped in exchange for Smollett surrendering $10,000 in bail money or completing community service.

Now, she is facing mounting calls to resign.

Thousands of texts and emails about the case were made public by State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office Tuesday as criticism of her handling of the case grew.

They were given to The Chicago Tribune as part of an information request.

They reveal how a group of staff fretted over the media coverage of the case, routinely sharing news articles with one another in a group called 'Foxxhole'.

Foxx 'recused' herself from the case after it emerged she had exchanged text messages with a member Smollett's family in the days after the incident. She tried, at their request, to get the case handed over to the FBI but failed.

Smollett was arrested in February for allegedly lying about the attack. Police say he paid Abel and Ola Osundairo to attack him and that he thought he could use it as leverage to get a raise on Empire, a claim he denies

Other texts, that were revealed on Tuesday night, show the staff exchanging messages in a group called 'Foxxhole' where they fretted over the media coverage of the case

When Smollett was arrested on February 21, the prosecutors said it was a 'complete shock'. They then accused the police department of 'leaking' to the press and shared articles they thought had come from inside the force

TIMELINE OF SMOLLETT CASE AND FOXX'S RECUSAL January 29: Smollett reports attack to police February 2: Kim Foxx communicates with Tina Tchen, on behalf of Smollett family, and Smollett's relatives February 20: Foxx announces she is recusing herself February 21: Smollett is arrested March 8: Grand jury indicts Smollett on 16 Class 4 felonies carrying a 48 year prison sentence Foxx texts Magats, the deputy she said she referred to, telling him it was excessive. March 26: Charges suddenly dropped after Smollett completes community service and pays $10,000 fine Advertisement

While she announced at the time that she was recusing herself, she has since said she meant it in a 'colloquial' sense rather than a 'legal sense' and that it was more an informal decision to 'step away from the decision making' rather than remove herself entirely from it.

In messages sent two weeks before that decision Foxx, who has since faced repeated calls to resign over her handling of the case, writes: 'Sooo......I'm recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases...16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A.

She goes on: 'Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16.'

Magats replies: 'Yes. I can see where that can be seen as excessive.'

Further messages show Foxx replies 'yeah....it's not who we want to be' in response to a message from her colleague Magats saying he'll take a 'hard look' at how we charge the cases.

Magats writes: 'I'll get with Risa and Jim. With him taking over we can take a hard look at how we charge the cases and get it to something that covers what needs to be covered without being excessive and ultimately pointless.'

Risa is thought to be prosecutor Risa Lanier, it is not known who Jim refers to.

After the charges were dropped, the office staff started receiving inquiries from the press demanding answers. Keira Ellis, one of the communications team, told colleagues: 'Good speed all of you'

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Foxx said: 'After the indictment became public, I reached out to Joe to discuss reviewing office policies to assure consistencies in our charging and our use of appropriate charging authority.

'I was elected to bring criminal justice reform and that includes intentionality, consistency, and discretion. I will continue to uphold these guiding principles.'

Other messages show how the office struggled to 'anticipate the magnitude of the response' to their decision.

The office released nearly 200 pages of screenshots of texts and more than 3,600 pages of emails Tuesday.

In one assistant State's Attorney Risa Lanier texted Magats: 'Just wish I could have anticipated the magnitude of this response and planned a bit better!'

Magats replied: 'There's really no planning for this. It's the right decision.'

Lanier agreed, responding: 'I agree and absolutely stand by the decision made.'

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Police Department's Superintendent Eddie Johnson both expressed their fury when her office decided to drop the case.

And messages appear to show the prosecutors' office only told the Chicago police the charges had been dropped as journalists were already in the courtroom.





Foxx messaged Magats to say: 'Eddie just called. (He) needed to know how to answer questions from press. He seemed satisfied with the explanation.'

MICHAEL AVENATTI 'TRIED TO INSERT HIMSELF IN JUSSIE SMOLLETT CASE' BY REPRESENTING NIGERIAN BROTHERS ACCUSED OF ATTACK Michael Avenatti tried to get involved in the Jussie Smollett case by offering to represent the two Nigerian brothers accused of attacking the Empire star, new documents have claim. Avenatti, who is facing life imprisonment on fraud, extortion and embezzlement charges, is said to have offered his services in early March as the case grew in the public eye. Kim Foxx text her deputy Joseph Magats on March 3 saying Michael Avenatti wanted to get involved in the case as the lawyer for the two brothers In one of the thousands of messages revealed by the Chicago State's Attorney's Office on Tuesday, Kim Foxx told a colleague, likely Joseph Magats: '.... so Michael Avenatti has reached out. 'Apparently he's coming in to represent the Nigerian brothers in Smollett. I gave him your office number.' Avenatti, who is best known for representing Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, is on bail awaiting court appearances in California and New York. He never ended up representing the brothers. On Wednesday, he told DailyMail.com that he was contacted by the brothers' lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, and was asked to get involved. 'I was contacted by the counsel for the brothers and was asked to consider coming into the case to assist them. 'This is no different than the approximate 50 people everyday who contact me and ask me to take their case. 'I ultimately decided not to get involved,' he said. He has insisted he is innocent of all the accusations he is now facing. Advertisement

Assistant State's Attorney Risa Lanier texted Magats: 'Just wish I could have anticipated the magnitude of this response and planned a bit better! after the story broke

Johnson would go onto slam the decision with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who called it 'a whitewash of justice'.

Foxx exchanged text messages with members of Smollett's family in the early stages of the investigation and tried, at their request, to convince the Chicago PD to let the FBI take the lead.

In messages sent weeks after she was said to have recused herself from the case Foxx wrote to prosecutor Joe Magats, pictured

The Empire actor was accused of staging an attack on himself on January 29 to try to get a raise on the show.

He is now facing a lawsuit after refusing to pay $130,106 worth of overtime that was accrued by police investigating the January incident that authorities now believe was a staged attack.

The star is currently on vacation with his family in Hawaii where he appeared tense during a heated phone call, telling a pal 'it's over, I got off'.

Police say he paid Abel and Ola Osundairo to beat him in what he then described as a racist, homophobic attack by two Trump-loving perpetrators. He has always maintained his innocence and insisted he was attacked.

Smollett told police on January 29 that two apparent supporters of President Trump struck him, put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach over him wile yelling 'This is MAGA country'.

He told officers the unknown chemical substance was used on him while 'Empire f****t' and 'Empire n*****' was shouted at him.

Investigators later said they believed Smollett may have paid Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo $3,500 to assault him in an alleged orchestrated attack.