'Broadview Six' case in rare waters as defense says US attorney had 'personal contact' with grand jury

CHICAGO — An attorney for the “Broadview Six” protesters told a federal judge Tuesday he has “reason to believe” that U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros had personal contact with the grand jury and asked federal prosecutors to preserve any communications about the case.

The comment in open court by attorney Christopher Parente, who represents Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw, was not expounded upon, and further discussion of the matter was done in the judge’s chambers. Parente said that if such contact by Boutros did occur, they believe it should be disclosed.

There was no immediate response from Boutros’ office in court or otherwise. More details on the allegation could be learned Wednesday, when the defense is scheduled to file a motion further explaining requests to preserve evidence in the case.

The latest developments came five days after the Broadview Six case collapsed in dramatic fashion, with U.S. District Judge April Perry describing “shocking” misconduct before the grand jury and Boutros himself appearing in court to apologize and dismiss the charges on the eve of trial.

Boutros told Perry last week that he’d only learned of the issues before the grand jury in late April, and moved immediately to dismiss the felony indictment and proceed on misdemeanor counts.

Defense attorneys have since asked Perry for an order requiring the U.S. attorney’s office to all emails, text messages and other communications regarding the case and the decision to redact large portions of the grand jury transcripts that were turned over to the judge ahead of the trial.

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said no such preservation order was necessary because under the Federal Records Act, the U.S. attorney’s office is required to preserve everything the defense has asked them to.

Over the weekend, MacArthur said, the office requested a litigation hold on “all records, emails, text messages, voice messages, documents and notes” related to the Broadview Six prosecution, including decisions about the disclosure and redaction of grand jury transcripts.

That evidence could be crucial to potential future hearings over alleged prosecutorial misconduct, including vindictive prosecution.

Also Thursday, MacArthur said prosecutors were not objecting to the public release of most of the grand jury transcripts in the case, with limited redactions to remove personal identification of any grand jurors and one limited section where a juror expressed personal opinions about the case.

The defense, meanwhile, has continued to push for the full “back and forth” discussion between prosecutors and the grand jurors, saying the lengthy exchange is critical to give the public context to what happened. They also are seeking the release of audio tapes, which Parente said could aid in providing the “tone” of the proceedings.

“The tone leaks off the page,” Perry noted.

Thursday’s hearing was a clear indication that the controversial dismissal of the Broadview Six charges has landed the case in some fairly uncharted waters. Perry told the parties she’s even unclear on some of the next steps, including whether the defense has legal standing on prosecutorial misconduct issues going forward or if that is something she would handle on her own.

Jury selection had been scheduled in the case for Tuesday. Instead, the now-former defendants appeared in court all smiles, hugging one another before the proceedings began. “A little bit different of a day,” Straw said as he came through security.

Former congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, meanwhile, posted on BlueSky she was on her way to the courthouse, “But not as a defendant!!! Very cool!!!!!”

Also present for the hearing were Catherine “Cat” Sharp and Joselyn Walsh, who were both dismissed from the case months ago.

The Broadview Six case was beset by controversy from the moment the indictment was brought last October as the defense has alleged the case was brought amid pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump and was nothing more than an attempt to silence protesters of the president’s draconian immigration policies.

Prosecutors alleged the defendants were part of a group that surrounded an ICE vehicle outside the Broadview facility during a Sept. 26 protest and “banged aggressively” on the vehicle’s side and back windows, hood and doors, and crowded together to impede the vehicle.

But the case completely collapsed last week after Perry was given unredacted transcripts of the grand jury proceedings and held an emergency hearing where she said she had “never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.”

“Your sole goal is to do justice,” Perry told the team of prosecutors during a remarkable closed-door session on Thursday, according to a transcript of that hearing later made public. “Your client is justice itself. I do believe deeply in the presumption of regularity and that most government attorneys are doing the best they can to do the right thing. That trust has been broken.”

An hour later, Boutros had just left a swearing-in ceremony for six new assistant U.S. attorneys when he made a rare appearance in court to personally apologize to the judge and announce he was dismissing all charges against the remaining four defendants in the case.

The fallout continued on Friday, when U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s office announced that the former lead prosecutor in the Broadview Six case, Sheri Mecklenburg, had been terminated from her new role with the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington.

Boutros’ office also made good on a promise to the judge to amend the original press release about the Broadview charges — something the main Department of Justice has generally refused to do. On Friday, the online release said at the top: “THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT GRANTED THE GOVERNMENT’S MOTION TO DISMISS THE CHARGES WITH PREJUDICE. ALL CHARGES AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS HAVE BEEN DISMISSED.”

Boutros, meanwhile, has acknowledged there was misconduct in the grand jury. But he also publicly and privately defended the merits of bringing the case, saying the evidence showed a crime was committed and that his team was fully prepared to go to trial on Tuesday on the misdemeanor counts of impeding a federal official.

“Once I became aware of the conduct in the grand jury, within 24 hours we dismissed (the indictment),” Boutros told Perry. “We then filed an information that has nothing to do with the grand jury, and I was prepared and still would have been prepared to go to trial on the misdemeanor count. Because I do believe in the rule of law.”

In an all-office email sent Thursday night, Boutros told his staff it was a “tough but important day” for the office, but doubled down on the defense of the case, calling the trial team of three prosecutors “courageous.”

“While I firmly believe that a crime was committed, this case was beset with a number of challenges,” Boutros wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Tribune. “But make no mistake, today was an important day for the Office. … These prosecutors fought for the rule of law and fought for the safety and security of our federal officials and employees—and, we thank them for that.”

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