Jussie Smollett's legal team has promised swift action should the city of Chicago follow through with its threat to sue the "Empire" actor to reimburse the city for the cost of investigating his controversial case.
In a letter from Smollett's lawyers obtained by Fox News on Friday, Mark Geragos said Smollett "will not be intimidated into paying" the $130,000.
READ THE CHICAGO PD'S JUSSIE SMOLLETT CASE FILES
Geragos said if the city follows through with its threat Thursday to sue Smollett, he'll demand sworn depositions from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the two brothers who told police Smollett paid them to "attack" him.
"Mr. Smollett vehemently denies making any false statements," the letter reads. "Your claim that Smollett filed a false police report and orchestrated his own attack is false and defamatory."
The letter concluded: "Mr. Smollett’s preference remains, however, that this matter be closed and that he be allowed to move on with his life."
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The city's law department told Fox News on Thursday that Smollett, 36, "has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on Jan. 29, 2019." The statement said that the law department "is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. "
Per the statement, the department aims to file in the near future, and will "pursue the full measure of damages allowed under the ordinance."
In January, Smollett reported he was the victim of a homophobic and racist attack. Weeks later, he was charged with lying to police. Last month, prosecutors made the stunning announcement that they were dropping the charges.
At a news conference last Thursday, Mayor Emanuel said that the actor should "pay the city back."
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"Given that he doesn't feel any sense of contrition and remorse, my recommendation is when he writes check in the memo section [of the check], he can put the word 'I'm accountable for the hoax," Emanuel stated.
The mayor stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his city's police force, denouncing prosecutors for dropping charges against Smollett and slamming the episode as a "whitewash of justice."
Smollett, who has maintained his innocence, previously pleaded not guilty to all 16 counts against him.
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Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Chicago Subway sandwich shop at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29. The actor, who is black and openly gay, said the masked men beat him, made derogatory comments and yelled "This is MAGA country" — an apparent reference to President Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."
Police eventually determined the masked men were brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, and they were identified as the men seen on surveillance video buying the rope that was hung around Smollett's neck during the alleged attack. Johnson told the press at the time that the Osundairo brothers were cooperating with authorities, and that the investigation was pivoting from a hate crime probe into an inquiry into false reporting.
Fox News' Matt Finn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smolletts-lawyer-threatens-chicago-pd-if-they-go-after-empire-star-for-cash
2019-04-05 16:31:40Z
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