‘Chaos’ and ‘dysfunction’: Durbin, Duckworth want top federal prosecutor out; Boutros fights back

Beleaguered Chicago-based U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros hit back at accusations of improper contact with grand jurors Tuesday as U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth took the unusual step of calling for his resignation.

“Andrew Boutros’ time as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois has been riddled with chaos, deep internal dysfunction and alleged misconduct,” said Duckworth and Durbin, who is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The senators’ statement follows the botched prosecution of the “Broadview Six,” a group of individuals charged in connection with protests outside a West suburban immigration facility during the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz in the fall.

Boutros “must resign, and there must be an open, transparent, and nonpartisan search to nominate the next U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois,” the Democratic senators said in a statement.

Later Tuesday, Boutros issued an admittedly “rare” special report to clear his name “in the public interest as well as the interest of justice.”

It acknowledges Boutros spoke with grand jurors considering the Broadview Six case on Oct. 23, in his capacity as “chief legal adviser. He asked them if they could put aside personal feelings while weighing the case, according to the report.

“If there’s anyone here who is struggling with a certain type of case, such as the immigration cases or other cases where they do not believe that they can set aside their personal, their personal emotions, that they cannot listen and deliberate honestly and objectively, I would ask that you raise your hand and identify yourself, because we have a different procedure for that,” the report states Boutros told jurors.

“Never once in any of his remarks in any grand jury did U.S. Attorney Boutros reference any case or any specific substantive law,” the report states.

Boutros announced on May 21 he was dropping all remaining charges against the Broadview 6 defendants amid allegations of misconduct involving the grand jury process, and accusations prosecutors had misled the judge presiding over the cases.

Attorney Christopher Parente, a former federal prosecutor who represents Broadview Six defendant and Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw, called the grand jury proceedings “bizarre.”

“This never happens,” he said, adding that the timing is suspect because Boutros’ appearance was the same day the grand jury delivered the indictments.

The grand jury previously voted against an indictment Oct. 9, and on Oct. 16 a former prosecutor dismissed grand jurors who voiced dissent, Parente said.

“They happen to come back for the third time (on Oct. 23) and that happens to be the time the U.S. attorney comes down to give a grand speech, (saying) ‘Hey — if you if you have problems with immigration, raise your hand, and we have an unnamed process for people like you,’” he added. “What message do you think it sends to those grand jurors?”

Other Broadview defendants included former 9th Congressional District Democratic candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh and a Chicago Democratic committeeman.

Boutros also grabbed attention last week following reports that he is conducting a criminal investigation into a Chicago-area nonprofit organization for financially assisting E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against President Donald Trump.

Carroll, a former magazine columnist, has won millions in judgments against Trump through litigation alleging defamation and sexual abuse. Trump has denied the claims and is appealing.

Boutros denied the reports May 28, stating “the Chicago U.S. attorney’s office can confirm that it has not opened — and has never opened — a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll. Any claim to the contrary is categorically false.”

· Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.