Disgraced “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett got some bad news this week. An Illinois judge just granted two search warrants ordering Google to hand over a year’s worth of data from Smollett and his manager. The warrants come as a special prosecutor continues to try to get to the bottom of whether or not he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself.
Federal Judge Signs Google Warrant In Smollett Case
Fox News reported that the warrants, which were filed last month, will give authorities access to communications between Smollett and his manager.
The warrant covers texts, emails, photos, location data, drafted and deleted messages, any files in Smollett or his manager’s Google Drive cloud storage services, Google Voice texts, calls and contacts. Investigators will also have access to their full search and web browsing history between November 2018 and November 2019.
Smollett made headlines last year when he claimed that he was jumped by two men in Chicago on January 29, 2019. He alleged that the two men assaulted him while screaming racist and homophobic epithets at him, and that the attackers also said “this is MAGA country” while putting a noose around his neck.
After the alleged attack, Smollett returned to his apartment where his manager called 911.
RELATED: Disturbing New Video of Jussie Smollett Before the ‘Attack’ Surfaces
Smollett’s Story Falls Apart
However, Smollett’s story began to fall apart almost as soon as police began investigating. Authorities quickly came to the conclusion that Smollett allegedly paid $3,500 to stage the attack. Smollett paid two brothers, both natives of Nigeria, to assault him outside his apartment building.
Why would a highly paid, working actor stage a hate crime? Smollett reportedly hoped to secure a pay raise on the hit Fox drama “Empire”.
Accordingly, Smollet was charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly orchestrating the incident in February of 2019. And so Jussie Smollett found himself facing many years in prison.
Then, just one month later, the state’s Attorney Kim Foxx shocked the nation by inexplicably dropping all charges against Smollett. The decision by Foxx was met with fury by the Chicago police and the city’s mayor.
RELATED: Jussie Smollett Sues City Of Chicago After Prosecutor Admits She Mishandled His Case
Special Investigation Targets Google Data In Smollett Case
In the wake of this decision, Judge Michael Toomin appointed special prosecutor Dan Webb to look into Foxx’s decision. The special investigation continues to this day.
On Monday, Judge Toomin signed the search warrants ordering Google’s “representatives, agents and employees” not to disclose his order to turn over the records, saying that to do so “may jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation.”
Investigators hope that the Google data will prove that the attack was premeditated by Smollett. And that it will show whether or not the plan was communicated to his manager beforehand.
We hope that the new evidence from Google will provide a swift resolution to the Smollett saga. Enough taxpayer funded resources have been wasted on this stunt.
May justice finally prevail.
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