Justice always prevails in the end.
Though Jussie Smollett was allowed to walk away charge-free, he will not be completely escaping the consequences of his actions.
The mayor of Chicago is totally – and rightfully – furious at Smollett for his lack of accountability and the dropping of charges against him. So, he has announced that he will be making Smollett pay for the entire cost of the investigation, which looks like it will be totaling around $130K.
Check it out:
Los Angeles Times gave the news:
Jussie Smollett and the mayor of Chicago are trading public barbs over who’s going to pick up the tab for the police investigation of the alleged attack that the “Empire” actor reported in January.
“The police right now are assembling the cost of what was put into this,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday morning on WGN Radio. Then, he said, the city’s top legal advisor “is going to take action based on those costs, directly to Jussie Smollett.”
Emanuel said he wants to know, through a legal process rather than his own common sense, if a hate crime or a hoax was committed in Chicago.
“He [Smollett] is charged with 16 counts for creating a hoax about a hate crime. He walks out, says I'm innocent. They say no, he's guilty and the police work is good. Now, you can't be both,” the mayor said.
The mayor continued to slam Smollett at an unrelated event Thursday, according to CBS Chicago.
“Given that he doesn’t feel any sense of contrition and remorse, my recommendation is when he writes the check, in the memo section, he can put the word, ‘I’m accountable for the hoax,’” Emanuel said. “I think we’ve got to be clear about this.”
Despite a judge’s order Wednesday barring the Chicago Police Department from talking about the case, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi also told Page Six for a Thursday story that “the city of Chicago will be sending Mr. Smollett a bill” including costs of “an extensive investigation that required a lot of review of cameras.” Outside agencies’ costs would not be included, Guglielmi said.
The actor’s defense team took issue with Emanuel’s comments, saying in a statement to The Times that the actor had “paid enough.”
ABC News also reported on the story:
City officials on Thursday ordered Jussie Smollett to pay $130,000 to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of a street attack that police say was staged to promote his career.
A letter from the city's legal department to Smollett and his attorneys said that figure covers overtime worked by more than two dozen detectives and officers who spent weeks looking into Smollett's claim, including reviewing video and physical evidence and conducting interviews.
Those resources, the letter said, "could have been used for other investigations."
Hours earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI and the Department of Justice would review the "outrageous" case, calling it an "embarrassment" to the country.
You can also follow the story as it continues to unfold at CBS News, which had the following to say on this development:
A lawyer for the city of Chicago said Thursday the city is seeking $130,00 from actor Jussie Smollett as restitution for the cost of the investigation he initiated. Smollett had been charged with 16 felony counts for allegedly lying to Chicago police about being victim of a hate crime, but all the charges were dropped earlier this week in a controversial decision made by the Cook County state's attorneys office.
In a letter signed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's senior legal adviser Edward Siskel and addressed directly to Smollett, the city claims Smollett's "false statements" led to police "diverting resources from other investigations and undermining the criminal justice system."
Smollett has maintained his innocence and told reporters Tuesday after his charges had been dropped that he's been "truthful and consistent on every single level since day one."
The letter claims the the "Chicago police investigation revealed that you knowingly filed a false police report and had in fact orchestrated your own attack," and requests from Smollett an "immediate payment of the $130,160.15 expended on overtime hours in the investigation of this matter," to be paid within seven days.
The letter was sent to Smollet's attorney Patricia Brown Holmes' office in downtown Chicago.
If Smollett fails to pay the City of Chicago Corporate Counsel, the letter states he faces prosecution by the Department of Law and a fine of no less than $500 and a maximum of $1,000, "plus up to three times the amount of damages the city sustains as a result of the violation."
Way to go, Mayor Emanuel for forcing Smollett to face up to the consequences of his hoax!
Check out this other video of the mayor voicing his opinion on Smollett:
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