State's Attorney Kim Foxx had no authority to appoint her top deputy to act on her behalf after recusing herself from the Jussie Smollett case, according to an official from within her own office. Foxx 'recused' herself from the case after it emerged she had exchanged text messages with a member of Smollett's family in the days after the incident. She then handed the case over to her deputy Joe Magats and weeks later the 16 grand jury charges against Smollett were suddenly dropped. But the supervisor of the criminal appeals division for the state's attorney's office, Alan Spellberg, said in an email a day after news of her recusal was made public that appointing Magats after recusing herself was not allowed. Thousands of texts and emails about the case were made public and given to CBS Chicago by State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office Tuesday as criticism of her handling of the case grew. Citing case law Spellberg wrote: 'My conclusion from all of these authorities is that while the State's Attorney has the complete discretion to recuse herself from any matter, she cannot simply direct someone (even the First Assistant) to act in her stead.' The email was sent to Chief Deputy State’s Attorney and Chief Ethics Officer April Perry and senior adviser Robert Foley on February 20 - a day after Foxx announced she was recusing herself. The State’s Attorney office told The New York Post Foxx 'was not included in Alan Spellberg’s email and was not aware of its existence or content'. They said: 'The State’s Attorney was recused at the time of Mr. Spellberg’s opinion and thus had been not [sic] made aware of the email or it’s contents.' State's Attorney Kim Foxx, left, had no authority to appoint her top deputy Joe Magats, right, to act on her behalf after recusing herself from the Jussie Smollett case, according to an official from within her own office The supervisor of the criminal appeals division for the state's attorney's office, Alan Spellberg, said in an email that appointing Magats after recusing herself was not allowed While she announced at the time that she was recusing herself, she has since said she meant it in a 'colloquial' sense rather than a 'legal sense' and that it was more an informal decision to 'step away from the decision making' rather than remove herself entirely from it. And messages now show that weeks after that decision Foxx continued to meddle in the case, calling Smollett a 'washed up celeb who lied to cops' and telling Magats that the actor was being overcharged. In messages sent to Magats she also appeared to compare Smollett's charges to those leveled at another celebrity defendant, R. Kelly. She said: 'Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16.' Foxx was referring to the 16 count grand jury indictment Smollett was hit with for allegedly staging a hoax attack on himself on January 29. She went on: 'On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it's indicative of something we should be looking at generally. Just because we can charge something doesn't mean we should.' 'Agreed', Magats replied. Kim Foxx sent these text messages to her deputy on March 8 after a grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 counts of lying to police. She had already 'recused' herself for speaking to Smollett's family but continued to interfere in the case by telling her deputies that the charges were excessive. The charges were dropped two weeks later The case against Smollett, 36, was suddenly and unexpectedly dropped last month by Foxx's office in questionable circumstances and questions surrounding Foxx's alleged role in that decision have run rampant since. Magats said during an interview afterwards that he still believed Smollett was guilty. Foxx claimed it was never her decision to have the charges dropped in exchange for Smollett surrendering $10,000 in bail money or completing community service. Newly public messages also reveal how a group of staff fretted over the media coverage of the case, routinely sharing news articles with one another in a group called 'Foxxhole'. Foxx said it was 'not who we want to be' to charge someone 'because we can' despite a grand jury deciding on the 16 Class 4 felonies In messages sent two weeks before that decision Foxx, who has since faced repeated calls to resign over her handling of the case, writes: 'Sooo......I'm recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases...16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A. She goes on: 'Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16.' Magats replies: 'Yes. I can see where that can be seen as excessive.' Further messages show Foxx replies 'yeah....it's not who we want to be' in response to a message from her colleague Magats saying he'll take a 'hard look' at how we charge the cases. Magats writes: 'I'll get with Risa and Jim. With him taking over we can take a hard look at how we charge the cases and get it to something that covers what needs to be covered without being excessive and ultimately pointless.' Risa is thought to be prosecutor Risa Lanier, it is not known who Jim refers to. In a statement to DailyMail.com, Foxx said: 'After the indictment became public, I reached out to Joe to discuss reviewing office policies to assure consistencies in our charging and our use of appropriate charging authority. 'I was elected to bring criminal justice reform and that includes intentionality, consistency, and discretion. I will continue to uphold these guiding principles.' Other messages show how the office struggled to 'anticipate the magnitude of the response' to their decision. Smollett was arrested in February for allegedly lying about the attack. Police say he paid Abel and Ola Osundairo to attack him and that he thought he could use it as leverage to get a raise on Empire, a claim he denies Other texts, that were revealed on Tuesday night, show the staff exchanging messages in a group called 'Foxxhole' where they fretted over the media coverage of the case When Smollett was arrested on February 21, the prosecutors said it was a 'complete shock'. They then accused the police department of 'leaking' to the press and shared articles they thought had come from inside the force The office released nearly 200 pages of screenshots of texts and more than 3,600 pages of emails Tuesday. The Empire actor was accused of staging an attack on himself on January 29 to try to get a raise on the show. After the charges were dropped, the office staff started receiving inquiries from the press demanding answers. Keira Ellis, one of the communications team, told colleagues: 'Good speed all of you' He is now facing a lawsuit after refusing to pay $130,106 worth of overtime that was accrued by police investigating the January incident that authorities now believe was a staged attack. The star is currently on vacation with his family in Hawaii where he appeared tense during a heated phone call, telling a pal 'it's over, I got off'. Police say he paid Abel and Ola Osundairo to beat him in what he then described as a racist, homophobic attack by two Trump-loving perpetrators. He has always maintained his innocence and insisted he was attacked. Smollett told police on January 29 that two apparent supporters of President Trump struck him, put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach over him wile yelling 'This is MAGA country'. He told officers the unknown chemical substance was used on him while 'Empire f****t' and 'Empire n*****' was shouted at him. Investigators later said they believed Smollett may have paid Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo $3,500 to assault him in an alleged orchestrated attack. TIMELINE OF SMOLLETT CASE AND FOXX'S RECUSAL January 29: Smollett reports attack to police February 2: Kim Foxx communicates with Tina Tchen, on behalf of Smollett family, and Smollett's relatives February 19: Foxx announces she is recusing herself February 20: Alan Spellberg said in an email appointing Magats after recusing herself was not allowed February 21: Smollett is arrested March 8: Grand jury indicts Smollett on 16 Class 4 felonies carrying a 48 year prison sentence Foxx texts Magats, the deputy she said she referred to, telling him it was excessive. March 26: Charges suddenly dropped after Smollett completes community service and pays $10,000 fine All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility