CELEBS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said Thursday [3-28-19] that the Justice Department would examine Chicago prosecutors’ decision to drop disorderly conduct charges against actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of orchestrating a fake racially motivated attack against himself. After charging Smollett in February, Cook County, Ill., prosecutors made the surprise announcement on Tuesday that they would drop charges against the actor, who stars in Fox’s ‘Empire.’ The bizarre case had garnered national attention and the move to drop it was met with sharp criticism from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Trump, too, expressed outrage and said the decision would be investigated at the federal level…A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice declined to comment on the president’s promise of a federal review of the case. Smollett’s story first emerged in late January, when he said he was attacked in Chicago by two men who poured bleach on him, tied a rope around his neck and yelled homophobic slurs. Smollett also accused the attackers of telling him he was in ‘MAGA Country,’ a reference to the president’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan.”
–Louis Nelson, “Trump promises federal probe into Jussie Smollett case,” Politico, March 28, 2019 7:33 am