Attorney Mark Geragos Describes Jussie Smollett as “Media Gangbang” Victim
Jussie Smollett’s attorney Mark Geragos described the Empire actor as a “media gangbang” victim.
Geragos appeared on CNN where he responded to the 16 felony counts against Smollett. He told Anderson Cooper, “Even if he were supposedly the one who had orchestrated this, this is an outrage. The fact that he maintains his innocence makes it more outrageous.”
Geragos continued, “16 counts? I defy anybody to find any indictment, anywhere, where somebody has brought 16 counts for being a victim of a–of a hate crime, basically.”
He would then vociferously defend Smollett claiming the police have not talked to anyone at Fox.
“He was not suspended. They have not talked to one person at Fox, who said he was dissatisfied…They have not interviewed one person connected with the show Empire, who says he was dissatisfied with his money. “
Geragos then specifically points to the Chicago police’s internal investigation into the numerous leaks to the media surrounding the investigation.
“They are the ones who started their internal investigation about the leaks because all of the information being leaked was false. And I wasn’t at Northwestern Hospital. Northwestern Hospital supposedly, if you believe the reporting, let go of 50 people. Because 50 people have illegally accessed his records.”
He then describes what is happening as “media ganbang.”
“What is happening here is frankly, a media gangbang of this guy of unprecedented proportions. That’s the reason I got into this. I’ve never seen a media pendulum swing more quickly and more viciously, and rob somebody of their presumption of innocence like this case. It’s startling the way people assume he’s guilty.”
Geragos then defends Smollett’s innocence.
“He hasn’t been given one stitch of discovery. Not one. There isn’t one police report. Your package just said he paid $3,500. I have the text, those texts, and they conceded that the check and the texts were for training. It wasn’t to pay anything. So, I don’t understand where any of this comes from. He’s supposed to be paying for it. He’s the one supposedly dissatisfied. There’s no evidence of that.”
In a separate interview with Access, Geragos stated Smollett has “been violated in a number of ways and clearly a lot of the information that has been out there is untrue.” He would add “there “is a motivation to do damage to [Smollett] and we will prove that.”
On Friday, Smollett was charged with 16 felony counts by a Cook County grand jury where they accused the Empire actor of falsely reporting a hate crime in January.
The grand jury notes Smollett lied to police on two different occasions about the alleged hate crime. The first was to the beat cop who took the initial report and the second was in a follow-up interview conducted the same day by a detective. He received eight counts for allegedly lying to the beat cop, and counts for allegedly lying to the detective.
When Smollett was talking to the detective, he indicated his alleged attackers were white.
Smollett was previously charged with a single count of disorderly conduct last month where police indicated that Smollett told him his attackers were white. Police report Smollett’s attackers were both black.
Smollett maintains his innocence and denies that he staged the attack.
What do you make of Geragos’ statements? Do you think Smollett staged the attack or not?
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