The Latest: Smollett defends redacted phone records

CHICAGO – The Latest on the investigation into the attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett(all times local):

3:25 p.m.

Jussie Smollett is disputing any suggestion that the he is being less than co-operative with Chicago police detectives since the “Empire” actor says he was attacked in the city by two masked men.

A statement from Smollett Tuesday came after a police spokesman said that Smollett this week turned over some but not all of the phone records that detectives asked for and that the records he did provide were heavily redacted and insufficient for a criminal investigation.

But the representatives say the actor who had declined to turn over the records for more than two weeks after Smollett reported the Jan. 29 attack said that “Jussie is the victim here” and that he has provided records and given multiple statements to police. The statement says the redactions were made to protect “personal contacts or high -profile individuals” who have no connection to the attack.

Smollett has said he was walking in the downtown area when two men approached him, shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him, doused him with an unknown chemical before one of them looped a thin rope tied like a noose around his neck.

No arrests have been made.

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2:40 p.m.

Chicago Police investigating the attack on Jussie Smollett last month say the “Empire” actor has turned over some but not all of the phone records that detectives asked him for.

Smollett had declined until this week to turn over the records that detectives had requested after Smollett said that he had been the victim of an attack on Jan. 29 by two masked men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him.

But department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the phone records are contained in a heavily redacted document file and the records from the manager Smollett says he was talking to when the attack occurred were a screenshot of phone calls. He says the records aren’t sufficient for an investigation.

No arrests have been made.

Chicago Police investigating the attack on Jussie Smollett last month say the “Empire” actor has turned over some but not all of the phone records that detectives asked him for.

Smollett had declined until this week to turn over the records that detectives had requested after Smollett said that he had been the victim of an attack on Jan. 29 by two masked men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him.

But department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the phone records are contained in a heavily redacted document file and aren’t sufficient for an investigation.

On Tuesday, in a statement, Smollett’s representatives dismissed any suggestion that the actor isn’t co-operating fully and said that some information was redacted to protect the privacy of others.

No arrests have been made.