CHICAGO _ Former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb on Friday was appointed special prosecutor to look into why State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office abruptly dropped all charges against actor Jussie Smollett.
The appointment was announced by Judge Michael Toomin during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. Webb was sworn in shortly after the announcement. "Very well. Congratulations," the judge said as he shook Webb's hand.
Smollett, the onetime "Empire" actor who is African American and openly gay, reported that two men attacked him on a frigid January night in downtown Chicago, slipping a noose around his neck and shouting racist and homophobic slurs.
After an intense investigation by Chicago police, Smollett eventually turned from victim to suspect. He ended up indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct alleging he paid $3,500 to two brothers he knew to stage the attack near his apartment building in the Streeterville neighborhood.
But just a few weeks later, Foxx's office dropped all charges with little explanation.
Sheila O'Brien, a former state appellate judge, sought the special prosecutor in largely a solo effort, saying her only motive in spearheading the effort was to ensure respect for the law.
In June, Toomin ordered the appointment in a somewhat unexpected ruling, saying the case's "unprecedented irregularities" warranted the appointment "to restore the public's confidence in the integrity of our criminal justice system." Toomin _ who has been on the Circuit Court bench for nearly 40 years _ ruled Foxx's botched decision to appoint her top deputy to prosecute Smollett after recusing herself invalidated the case from start to finish.
The rare move to appoint a special prosecutor marks the first step in what promises to be a full-blown probe of how Foxx's office made the controversial decision to drop the charges. The investigation could cast a cloud over Foxx's bid for re-election next year.
As special prosecutor, Webb will bring on a team of attorneys to assist in the probe. They will wield extensive power to follow the probe where it leads, including investigating "the actions of any person or office involved in all aspects of the case," Toomin's ruling noted. They could also file new charges against Smollett _ or anyone else they reasonably believe committed a crime.
This is not the first time Toomin as tapped Webb for such a role.
In 2012, Toomin appointed Webb special prosecutor to look into whether clout tainted the investigation of former Mayor Richard M. Daley's nephew in a confrontation that led to the death of David Koschman. Webb billed the county nearly $1 million for that investigation.
Webb, a former U.S. attorney for the Chicago area, is one of the city's most distinguished trial lawyers in private practice. His area of practice includes commercial, civil, regulatory and white-collar criminal cases, according to Winston & Strawn's website.
As a federal prosecutor, Webb oversaw the "Operation Greylord" investigations into judicial misconduct in Cook County. Last year, Webb declined to represent President Donald Trump, citing "business conflicts."
The whole Smollett episode has been costly for the actor, who won't return to his role for the final season of "Empire." He also faces a lawsuit from the city of Chicago seeking to recoup the cost of police overtime for investigating the incident, and his attorneys have been sued for defamation by the two brothers who claim Smollett paid them to help him stage the attack.
The actor and his attorneys have steadfastly maintained his innocence and claimed he had been exonerated by the actions of Foxx's office.
Special prosecutors have usually been reserved for matters of undeniable weight: the infamous Summerdale police scandal from the early 1960s; the Black Panthers raid that led to the killing of leader Fred Hampton and a second man; the wide-scale torture of black suspects by Burge in the late 1970s and '80s; and the 2014 police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Despite the massive publicity it has generated, Smollett's minor felony case may seem small by comparison.
Foxx's office had opposed the appointment of a special prosecutor, arguing in part that it would duplicate the efforts of the county's inspector general's office, which has been investigating the controversy since April. But Foxx requested the IG's probe, raising questions about its independence in some eyes, and that office cannot bring criminal charges.
The special prosecutor's investigation could answer many of the lingering questions that followed the abrupt dismissal of Smollett's charges by Foxx's office at an unannounced court hearing. Prosecutors at first maintained the evidence against the actor was solid, but days later, Foxx suggested the case was shaky all along.
Foxx said she "recused" herself from the prosecution in its early stages, though her office later said she did not recuse herself "in the legal sense." In his ruling, Toomin called that "an exercise in creative lawyering."
To explain why she stepped aside, Foxx at first cited the fact that she had contact with a relative of Smollett when the actor was still considered a victim. High-profile attorney Tina Tchen, a former chief of staff to former first lady Michelle Obama, connected Smollett with that relative, sparking conspiracy theories that the Obamas directed Foxx to go easy on the actor.
But in May, internal communications from Foxx's office _ released to the Chicago Tribune and other news organizations as part of public-records requests _ showed Foxx claimed she recused herself because of false rumors that she was related to Smollett.
