The Jussie Smollett story seems to be quietly dying, but it shouldn't.  New updates by Chicago police are giving way to the claims that Smollett's story has been a hoax all along.

Police had asked to see Smollett's phone or his phone records immediately to verify his and his manager's account that they were on the phone with each other at the time of the attack.  Smollett refused, saying he could not be without his phone for the length of time it would take for investigators to download his call log.  Two weeks afterwards, on Tuesday, Smollett finally offered police a PDF file of his call log, which was heavily redacted.  Police refused to use it as evidence, saying the computer file could easily have been edited and they need the information to come directly from the carrier instead.  Jussie Smollett has still not complied with their request.

The most compelling development is the video surveillance of Smollett's steps that evening.  Police have gathered and raked through hundreds of hours of footage and narrowed down that the attack supposedly happened in a 60-second time frame that happened to be off all cameras.  No other persons are seen entering or leaving the same frames in that period of time.  The "persons of interest" police have asked the public to help identify are seen sitting on a bench across the street at the time the assault is claimed to have happened.

 TMZ reported an interesting clue into the police thinking on Tuesday.  The Chicago P.D. has confirmed that it has video of Jussie Smollett with the rope, tied in a Windsor knot, around his neck in the lobby of the building that he eventually called police from.  Yet when a reporter asked if police also had video of Smollett with the rope around his neck outside that building, police said they could not confirm that, as it would "interfere with the investigation."

If the rope was really around his neck before he entered the building, it wouldn't interfere.  That was already assumed when Smollett declared that the rope was placed around his neck during the attack and he wore it until he reached his friend's apartment.  Failure to confirm the actor's own statement indicates that he could have placed the mass-produced clothesline around his own neck upon entering the building.  That could be the key to whether the entire crime was manufactured.

The police aren't the only ones casting doubt on Jussie Smollett's story.  Neighbors from the area in which he claims he was attacked have come forward, saying they have doubts about Smollett's description of the events as well.  Agin Muhammed told reporters, "I've been in this neighborhood five years.  I don't believe it, not around here[.] ... Half the people are gay and the other half are black[.]"

Law enforcement confirm that if this is a hoax, they will charge Smollett with filing a false police report.  It is much harder to prove that a crime has been fabricated than it is to say they can't find evidence of the crime.  The absence of video evidence of the assault and Smollett withholding his phone records are not enough to convince a states attorney that he has committed a crime.  Basically, he would have to confess, as hundreds of others who have claimed false hate crimes have done in the past.  Mr. Smollett is unlikely to do so, but he is feeling the pressure.

Smollett has just hired Harvey Weinstein's public relations team, Sunshine Sachs.  The firm is clearly effective at its job, since we barely hear about Harvey Weinstein anymore.  Perhaps Jussie should hire a lawyer next; I don't recommend Michael Avenatti.

Perhaps life imitates art and could give insight into Smollett's ulterior motives.  His own music video that he performed in and directed in March of 2017 called "F.U.W." has the imagery of a black man standing under a noose.  Right after appears a man in a Donald Trump mask standing behind the TV actor.  

The song and accompanying music video are essentially just liberal porn and a manifestation of Smollett's personal deep fears of President Trump.

Even if this all turns out be a hoax, so much time has passed that it doesn't matter.  Thanks to just the accusation, the narrative that MAGA-supporters are evil, violent racists has already been written in stone — and in too many opinion pieces.  Liberals would rather believe that Trump-supporters are lurking on Chicago streets at 2 A.M. in subzero temperatures, waiting to commit hate crimes, than that one person is breaking the law to perpetuate his own misguided ideas.  A single tale, since that's all this is, can be used to justify actual violence against Trump-supporters.

Police have subpoenaed Jussie Smollett's phone records and are still investigating.  One thing is certain: a hate crime hoax will not get the same coverage by the mainstream media as an alleged hate crime.

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