Chicago prosecutor defends dropping Smollett charges
CHICAGO — Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Wednesday defended the decision by her staff to drop charges that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack in January.
Foxx recused herself before Smollett was charged last month because she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was handed to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats.
Foxx didn’t directly answer the question when CBS 2 TV in Chicago asked if she believed Smollett was innocent, as Smollett has continued to contend, saying only that the matter was handled properly. She pointed to Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service in return for dropping the charges. Magats has said he does not believe Smollett is innocent and Chicago police say he faked the attack.
“I believe that the outcome — him having to forfeit the $10,000, having to do community service, based on the allegations, and again the (low level) felony and no (criminal) background, are an outcome that we could expect with this type of case,” she said.
Rescued migrants hijack ship, steer toward Europe
VALLETTA, Malta — Migrants hijacked a cargo ship that rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north toward Europe, authorities in two European countries said.
Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, identified the ship as the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1. He said the tanker had rescued about 120 people and described what was happening as “the first act of piracy on the high seas with migrants” as alleged hijackers.
The new route put the ship on a route to Italy’s Lampedusa island and the island nation of Malta. The governments of both countries vowed to keep it from their territorial waters in the Mediterranean.
“Poor castaways, who hijack a merchant ship that saved them because they want to decide the route of the cruise,” Salvini, who heads the anti-migrant League party, was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
DeVos defends plan to eliminate Special Olympics funding
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday defended a proposal to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics, pushing back against a storm of criticism from athletes, celebrities and politicians who rallied to support the organization.
DeVos became a target on social media after Democrats slammed her plan to remove the group’s funding as part of nearly $7 billion in budget cuts for next year. The Special Olympics received $17.6 million from the Education Department this year, roughly 10 percent of its overall revenue.
From wire sources
In a statement responding to criticism, DeVos said she “loves” the organization’s work and has “personally supported its mission.” But she also noted that it’s a private nonprofit that raises $100 million a year on its own. Ultimately, she argued, her agency can’t afford to continue backing it.
“There are dozens of worthy nonprofits that support students and adults with disabilities that don’t get a dime of federal grant money,” she said. “Given our current budget realities, the federal government cannot fund every worthy program, particularly ones that enjoy robust support from private donations.”
Fake heiress’ life of luxury left others footing big bills
NEW YORK — Anna Sorokin traveled in celebrity circles and tossed $100 tips — all the more reason to believe she was the German heiress she said she was. But behind the jet-set lifestyle and pricey threads, prosecutors have said, was a fraudster who bilked friends, banks and hotels for a taste of the high life.
Sorokin, 28, lived in luxury New York City hotel rooms she couldn’t afford, promised a friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $62,000 bill, and peddled bogus bank statements in a quest for a $22 million loan, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has alleged.
On Wednesday, the one-time darling of the Big Apple social scene went on trial on grand larceny and theft of services charges alleging she swindled various people and businesses out of $275,000 in a 10-month odyssey that saw her jetting to the Midwest and Marrakesh before landing in a cell at Rikers Island.
“Her overall scheme has been to claim to be a wealthy German heiress with approximately $60 million in funds being held abroad,” prosecutor Catherine McCaw said after Sorokin’s October 2017 arrest. “She’s born in Russia and has not a cent to her name as far as we can determine.”
Sorokin’s attorney said she never intended to commit a crime.