Members of the “Broadview Six” are asking a federal judge to take the extraordinary step of appointing an independent special counsel to investigate — and possibly prosecute — Justice Department officials in Chicago and Washington D.C. for criminal contempt.
The request comes nearly a month after the tainted case against the six Operation Midway Blitz protesters collapsed amid revelations of apparent misconduct before a grand jury by prosecutors from the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros.
Lawyers for five of the cleared former defendants now say an investigation should be initiated because Botrous’ office appears to be laying blame at the feet of a single prosecutor. The defense attorneys say the misconduct “runs much deeper,” and likely into the upper echelon of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
That’s why they say the special counsel should be appointed “from outside the Department of Justice.”
“The court has the authority, and we think the obligation, to ensure that those responsible for this unique and sorry chapter — a chapter which has dramatically impacted the lives of multiple defendants and enduringly sullied the reputation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office earned over decades — are held to account,” the defense attorneys wrote in a 27-page filing late Tuesday.
They made their request to U.S. District Judge April Perry, who once served as a federal prosecutor in Chicago and even handled a significant criminal contempt case herself. She discovered the alleged improprieties after defense attorneys urged her to review unredacted transcripts of the grand jury proceedings in the “Broadview Six” case.
She has said what she found left her “incredibly shocked,” and she’s previously acknowledged the possibility of “parallel proceedings with some other investigative body.”
The misconduct alleged includes a prosecutor improperly putting her personal credibility on the line to support criminal charges, having conversations with grand jurors outside the grand jury room, and excusing grand jurors who disagreed with the feds’ case.
One grand juror called the case a “crock of sh–,” transcripts show.
Perry said the alleged misconduct had also been redacted out of transcripts initially given to her by Boutros’ office.
A Boutros spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the request for a special counsel.
The “Broadview Six” case revolved around a September protest outside a suburban immigration facility, where a crowd pushed and allegedly damaged a federal agent’s SUV. From that crowd, prosecutors charged only six people, largely involved in local Democratic politics, raising questions about selective prosecution and freedom of expression.
Charged were former congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw, former Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 45th Ward Democratic Committeeperson Michael Rabbitt, musician Joselyn Walsh and onetime Abughazaleh campaign worker Andre Martin.
Boutros permanently dropped the case May 21, telling Perry he didn’t know about much of the alleged misconduct until late April.
Since then, defense attorneys have sought records that could tie Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche or Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh to the “Broadview Six” case. The morning after they filed a motion seeking such records, federal prosecutors said in an email they wouldn’t dispute whether the former “Broadview Six” defendants are entitled to having their attorneys’ fees paid.
“A cynical observer might suggest the government’s agreement to pay defendants’ legal fees was made largely to avoid having to produce the requested [records] (which appears to have struck a nerve) and a full accounting of its conduct,” defense attorneys wrote Tuesday.
The group also said Perry should hold an evidentiary hearing about the alleged prosecutorial misconduct, noting that the hearing could “inform any potential sanctions.”
They said courts have a “longstanding” power to initiate criminal contempt investigations, which they called “essential to securing the authority, dignity, independence, and self-preservation of the courts and the judicial branch.”
Christopher Parente, Straw’s attorney, said the late Tuesday filings were “about protecting our collective Constitutional rights, ensuring we understand the full scope and nature of the corruption within the Department of Justice at this time, and sending a signal to U.S. attorney’s offices across the country that there will be consequences when they engage in corrupt actions.”
Briefing on the request from defense attorneys is expected to last into late July, meaning it could be several weeks before Perry hands down her ruling. The judge served as a federal prosecutor in Chicago from 2004 until 2016, helping to secure the criminal contempt conviction of fraudster Kevin Trudeau in 2013.
President Joe Biden once nominated Perry to serve as Chicago’s U.S. attorney, but her confirmation for the job was blocked by then-Sen. JD Vance, who is now the vice president.