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Former Michelle Obama aide tried to intervene in Jussie Smollett probe

After being contacted by a Chicago attorney who served as former first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, the top prosecutor in Cook County asked the city’s top cop to turn over the Jussie Smollett probe to the FBI, according to reports.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx reached out to Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson after Tina Tchen, the former senior Obama official, emailed the prosecutor saying the “Empire” actor’s family had “concerns” about the probe, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Tchen passed Foxx’s number to a family member of Smollett, and the ensuing conversations with the relative were later cited by the prosecutor as the reason she recused herself from the probe, according to the paper, which obtained messages from Foxx in response to a public records request.

Text messages show Tchen contacted Foxx on Feb. 1, three days after Smollett reported that he was attacked by two masked men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him and put his neck in a noose.

Tchen, a close friend of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s wife, sent a text message to Foxx to set up an early morning phone call, according to the newspaper.

“I wanted to give you a call on behalf of Jussie Smollett and family who I know. They have concerns about the investigation,” texted Tchen, who sought to set up a call with Foxx before flying out to New York at 8 a.m.

The text messages show Foxx told both Tchen and Smollett’s relative that Foxx had reached out to Johnson about handing the probe to the feds.

“Spoke to the Superintendent Johnson,” Foxx emailed Tchen the same day. “I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get to me shortly.”

The same day, Foxx texted with Smollett’s relative, whose name was blacked out in the released copies.

“Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask,” Foxx wrote. “Trying to figure out logistics. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Omg this would be a huge victory,” the family member replied.

“I make no guarantees, but I’m trying,” Foxx wrote back.

Fox told the Sun-Times this week that the relative expressed concerns about leaked information about the probe — information that media outlets attributed to “police sources.”

“They had no doubt about the quality of the investigation, but believed that the FBI would have a tighter lid on the information,” said Foxx, adding that the police commissioner appeared receptive at first to the idea of turning the case over to the FBI.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the newspaper that the feds were involved from the start of the possible hate crime investigation, but that there was never any talk of the police giving up the case to the FBI.

Smollett, 36, who is black and gay, is accused of recruiting two brothers to orchestrate the attack because he was upset with his pay on the TV show, police have said.

He faces 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report and lying to cops.

The brothers told police that Smollett plotted the assault, gave them money to buy supplies for the attack and paid them $3,500 for taking part in the alleged plot.

The brothers — Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo — have not been charged.

https://nypost.com/2019/03/14/former-michelle-obama-aide-tried-to-intervene-in-jussie-smollett-probe/