The ongoing case of Jussie Smollett is storming into the new year with a new load of investigatorial twists and turns.
The Chicago Tribune reported today that “a Cook County judge has ordered Google to turn over Jussie Smollett’s emails, photos, location data and private messages for an entire year as part of the special prosecutor’s investigation into the purported attack on the actor.”
The demand is the latest development in a story that dates back to January 29, 2019, when the former ‘Empire’ cast member claimed that he was attacked by homophobic racists and received massive national support before getting indicted for allegedly staging the whole thing about three weeks later.
In the interim, Chicago police raided the home of two Nigerian-American brothers allegedly connected to the incident, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the investigation, due to her “familiarity with potential witnesses in the case.”
The charges against Jussie Smollet were dropped on March 26, when the actor agreed to perform 16 hours of community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond. The deal marked the beginning of an FBI probe into the irregularities of the whole situation currently being led by former US Attorney Dan Webb, who was sworn in as special prosecutor on August 23.
ALSO READ: An open letter to Jussie Smollett
The pair of “sweeping search warrants” issued today demand “a trove of documentation from Smollett and his manager’s Google accounts — not just emails but also drafted and deleted messages; any files in their Google Drive cloud storage services; any Google Voice texts, calls and contacts; search and web browsing history; and location data,” according to the Tribune.
