Prairie State Wire

Republican Attorney General candidate David Shestokas is questioning the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission's (ARDC) decision not to pursue an investigation into Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx over her handling of the Jussie Smollett case.

“I have long been proud of the line ‘Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney’ on my resume,” Shestokas told Prairie State Wire. "In recent years, when doing public speaking, it has become necessary to add 'back when the office prosecuted criminals.' The Smollet matter shined an unfavorable national spotlight on the office. The report of the special prosecutor generously refers to six statements of either Ms. Foxx or her Deputy Mr. Magats as false or misleading. The proper description of the statements are lies. The report makes a strong case that this conduct was in violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility. Apparently, at this time, the Attorney and Registration and Disciplinary Committee feels otherwise.”

He said only “the worst cases of major crimes committed by individuals free in the community whose history indicates a low probability that they will return to court” are being paid attention.

“As to her record generally, there are too many high-profile instances of crimes being committed by persons out on either low or no bond, or on the streets under a flawed electronic monitoring system,” Shestokas added. “Other policies of the office that rewrite statutes under the guise of 'discretion' serve to endanger the community. Well-known is the policy to raise the felony threshold of retail theft from the $300 statutory definition to $1000. Such policies encourage lawlessness in every category.”

He pointed out that although “judges ultimately approve bonds and other conditions of release, historically judges rely upon the information provided by state’s attorneys to make their decisions,” but it’s different in this case.

“I have several former colleagues who are now judges,” Shestokas continued. “I have been told they cannot rely on the assistants in Kim Foxx’s office to provide them with a full picture of a defendant’s history needed to make an informed decision on issues of bond and electronic monitoring. The examples from the Smollett case in misleading the public seems to take place in the courtroom as well.”

Shestokas, an Orland Park resident said on his website “[c]rime and safety is a huge concern for Illinois citizens,” noting Foxx and others for their “woke” stance in letting criminals go. Shestokas is also on record about his goal of restoring what he views as “constitutional values” to the office, including reprioritizing where and how the agency makes use of its resources. 

Born and raised in Chicago, he began his public service by serving nine years as a Lemont Library Trustee, including in the role of treasurer during the construction of Lemont’s first stand-alone library, a project that ultimately came in $150,000 under budget. Later, fellow board members moved to install him as president, Prairie State Wire previously reported.

ARDC said it was not pursuing an investigation into Foxx’s bar license. It noted, "as a matter of policy, the ARDC does not review or direct the discretionary decisions of elected officials who may also be lawyers absent some clear indication of fraud, criminal activity or other serious misconduct by the lawyer-official." 

"Judging by this letter, it appears that elected officials who are also attorneys are immune from [an] investigation into their professional conduct unless it’s what the ARDC considers serious," Martin Preib, a former Chicago FOP spokesman, who previously contacted the ARDC  told Chicago City Wire. 

Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Dan Webb wrote in a report that Foxx committed "serious abuses of discretion" in handling the Smollett criminal case. Foxx and her team also presented "conflicting stories" of who and why her administration negotiated their arrangement with Smollett, according to the investigation. 

Webb refused to answer a question from a Sun-Times reporter in December about whether he had transmitted his report to the Commission, and he also did not respond to a CCW inquiry about if he had filed a formal complaint.