http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/chicago-police-department/venmo-smollett-287495
Cops: Jussie Smollett Paid For Pot, Cocaine, Ecstasy Via Venmo App
A police examination of Jussie Smollett’s text messages revealed that on “various occasions” over the past year, the actor/hoaxster requested that an associate procure him cocaine, Ecstasy, and marijuana, the payment for which was transmitted via the Venmo app.
Smollett’s alleged narcotics purchases are referred to in a police report that was among hundreds of pages of documents released today by the Chicago Police Department. The material details the department’s investigation of Smollett’s claim that he was the victim of a hate crime attack in late-January.
Pictured above, Smollett was eventually charged with fabricating the assault tale. In late-March, the Cook County prosecutor dropped criminal charges against the 36-year-old performer, a decision that was blasted by Chicago’s mayor and police commanders.
A search warrant for telephone records revealed communications between Smollett and his unnamed drug contact that began in late-February 2018. It appears that the search warrant was for the phone records of Smollett’s associate.
In the texts, Smollett would request "weed, molly, or Whitney," according to the report. “In particular, weed is slang for cannabis, molly is slang for extacy, and whitney is slang for cocaine,” an investigator wrote.
The report contends that there were “multiple occasions” when Smollett apparently used Venmo to pay for "illicit activity" that was claimed as “payments for legitimate expenses.” For example, cops say that when Smollett paid $100 for Ecstasy pills in September 2018, he listed “Training” as the reason for the Venmo transfer.
During the police probe, a Chicago detective contacted a Venmo official who agreed to preserve records of Smollett’s account until police could secure a subpoena for those documents.
Baker don't know if we missed this yesterday. Didn't see it in past notables.