Jussie Smollett's attorneys say the actor shouldn't have to reimburse the city because he had no way of knowing police would investigate so thoroughly

Jussie Smollett's legal team is once again attempting to get their client out of reimbursing the city for the cost of the investigation into his claims of a hate crime — this time by saying that it's the police's fault for investigating in the first place.

 

What's the background?

Smollett, who starred in the Fox series "Empire," initially claimed to have been the victim of a Jan. 29 hate crime perpetrated by supporters of President Donald Trump. However, as the police investigation progressed the story began to fall apart. By the end of February, he was charged with a felony for allegedly filing a false police report. He was indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct by a grand jury in March.

However, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office dropped all charges against Smollett.

Even with the charges dropped, the Chicago Police Department sued Smollett for $130,000 for the cost of its investigation.

What happened now?

Smollett attorney William J. Quinlan said in a motion he filed that asking Smollett to pay the fees was "ridiculous and a stretch."

"The filing of a police report, in and of itself, does not necessitate a sprawling investigation nor does it, as a practical matter, usually result in an investigation as extensive as the one the CPD chose to undertake in this case," the motion read, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Quinlan also said Smollett had "no control" over the scope of the police investigation into his claims. He also alleged that the city's lawsuit was only filed because former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was frustrated with "the state's attorney" for "dismissing the charges."

This isn't the first attempt by Smollett's attorney to get their client out of repaying the police department. Last month, they tried arguing that the hate crime attack really did happen and that their client had not lied.