U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros makes public appearance as ‘Broadview Six’ scandal grows
Embattled U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros on Thursday made one of his first local public appearances since his office dropped charges in the “Broadview Six” case amid alleged grand jury improprieties, defiantly claiming victory in an anti-violence operation, stating, “no reckless reporting can take away from our results.”
Amid an unprecedented scandal for Chicago’s U.S. attorney’s office, Boutros was joined by the director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other law enforcement to announce the results of an initiative he convened to target the “worst of the worst” in Chicago and Rockford, even as the Broadview Six fallout continues to mire his office in turmoil.
“Since then, I have worked day and night, literally, and weekends and holidays, literally, to keep the citizens of the Northern District of Illinois safe,” Boutros said.
Though the press conference appeared designed to showcase a recent win for the office amid increasing scrutiny, Boutros was still asked about the Broadview Six case despite telling reporters he hoped the questions would remain on topic and criticizing the media coverage the matter has gotten.
“I will be addressing a lot of that stuff in a lot more detail,” Boutros said of the case, calling himself the “most accessible U.S. attorney probably ever.”
Standing in front of a screen with rotating photos of mug shots, drugs and guns, Boutros, along with ATF Director Robert Cekada, announced the results of “Operation New Dawn,” which he said led to more than 170 people federally charged, along with the recovery of 24 children, “many of whom were kidnapped safely returned home.” Calling the operation “unprecedented,” Boutros said he assembled 11 federal agencies “to focus on single mission.”
Boutros claimed that his office has increased criminal prosecutions of violent crime since he became U.S. attorney, saying, “no distractions, no noise, no nonsense, no spin, no subterfuge, no treachery, no reckless reporting, can take away from our results.”
Asked whether he was referring to reporting on the Broadview Six prosecutions, Boutros criticized the reporting on his office’s handling of the case.
“I’m not going to get into that because I don’t want to distract from this work and bring in a misdemeanor case that you want to talk about but there has been reckless reporting in this room,” he said.
In May, Boutros made a rare appearance in court to announce that he was dismissing all remaining counts in the case, which had been scheduled to go to trial. He also made a lengthy apology to the court.
In what the defendants have argued was a politically-motivated prosecution, federal prosecutors had charged former congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, her former campaign manager Andre Martin, 45th Ward Committeeman Michael Rabbitt, Democratic Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw, Catherine Sharp, a onetime candidate for the Cook County Board, and Joselyn Walsh, a part-time garden store worker and singer, with surrounding an ICE vehicle outside the Broadview facility and impeding its movements.
But after attorneys for the defendants pushed for unredacted transcripts from the proceedings during which prosecutors sought the indictment, the full scope of what happened before the grand jury became clear.
Before two separate grand juries last year, a federal prosecutor repeatedly stepped over the line, including “vouching” about the strength of the evidence, telling panel members who disagreed with the prosecution’s theory of the case that they could just leave, and having “ex parte” communications with a grand juror outside the proceedings, according to a series of revelations in court.
U.S. District Judge April Perry, who is overseeing the case, took prosecutors to task for the wrongdoing, as well as the attempting to cover it up by redacting the transcript.
“Your sole goal is to do justice,” Perry told the team of prosecutors during a closed-door session revealed through a transcript. “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.”
Boutros has ordered a top-to-bottom review of some 100 criminal investigations handled by the federal prosecutor who handled the grand jury, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, dating back to 2007. His office already has proactively turned over transcripts and even audio recordings of Mecklenburg’s grand jury sessions in at least a half dozen cases, and outright dismissed charges against some 10 defendants.
As “Broadview Six” defendants push for redress for what they say was a wrongful prosecution, Perry will determine how much the government should have to pay in legal fees, and decide whether to hold hearings on potential sanctions against the U.S. attorney’s office. She could also appoint special counsel to determine whether the conduct of prosecutors warrants contempt charges.