The federal judge presiding over the failed “Broadview Six” prosecution ordered Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros on Monday to testify in her courtroom under oath later this month.
U.S. District Judge April Perry called Boutros’ denial that he knew about certain wrongdoing by his staff until April “hard to credit” and “nearly unfathomable.” She said he and three other prosecutors on the case “must appear to testify under oath” in her courtroom Nov. 16.
In a footnote, she wrote that she means “must” in the legal sense — “which is to say it is mandatory.”
The judge said the testimony would revolve around grand jury transcripts in the case, redactions to those transcripts, and the accuracy of certain statements that have been made to her.
Perry’s order came hours after former Chicago FBI boss Douglas DePodesta sued Boutros and other Trump Justice Department officials over the tainted case brought against six Operation Midway Blitz protesters. DePodesta alleged that Boutros falsely tried to blame him for the failed prosecution, eventually forcing DePodesta to resign in July.
Perry cited allegations in DePodesta’s lawsuit in her seven-page order.
The “Broadview Six” case revolved around a protest outside an immigration holding facility in west suburban Broadview in September 2025, at the height of Operation Midway Blitz. Prosecutors alleged that a crowd pushed and damaged a federal agent’s SUV.
But from that crowd, only six people were charged with conspiring to impede the agent, a felony carrying a maximum six-year prison sentence. Most of the defendants were involved in local Democratic politics, raising questions about selective prosecution.
The case collapsed May 21 after Perry discovered alleged prosecutorial misconduct in grand jury transcripts that she said left her “incredibly shocked.”
On Friday, a controversial top Justice Department official inserted himself into the case, insisting “the United States has not agreed to provide any information” sought by the judge who might name a special prosecutor to look into alleged wrongdoing by the feds.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the Justice Department’s third-highest ranking official, asked Perry for clarity as a deadline loomed Friday for prosecutors to hand over records Perry sought weeks ago.
In Monday’s order, Perry admonished prosecutors for being “cagey” and gave them until Thursday to provide those records.
“Generally, attorneys appreciate the opportunity to provide evidence that they have not lied to the Court, and the Court wanted to provide that opportunity to these prosecutors,” she said.