‘Broadview Six’ judge wants to put prosecutors under oath, keeps contempt charges on the table 2026

<p>When federal prosecutors in Chicago assured a judge last spring<b> </b>they’d had no contact with the White House or top Justice Department officials about their pursuit of six Operation Midway Blitz protesters, U.S. District Judge April Perry<b> </b><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/04/07/broadview-ice-kat-abughazaleh-chicago-midway-blitz" target="_blank" ><u>took them at their word</u></a>.</p><p>Those days are clearly over.</p><p>Rather, in a remarkable turn-the-tables moment that underscores the damage done to the feds’ credibility here, Perry<b> </b>concluded Thursday<b> </b>that<b> </b>further<b> </b>“under oath”<b> </b>fact-finding<b> </b>is needed in the tainted case of the <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/06/27/broadview-six-boutros-chicago" target="_blank" ><u>“Broadview Six”</u></a> — leaving open the possibility that she’ll name a special prosecutor to investigate U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros<b> </b>and others.</p><p>She did so at the end of an hourlong hearing<b> </b>in which she asked an attorney for Boutros’ office, point-blank, whether any of the prosecutors who worked on the politically charged case would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.</p><p>He said he didn’t know.</p><p>Eventually, Perry told the lawyers, “my sole focus, at this point, is on lack of candor, concealment of material facts, or other misconduct that occurred before me.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>April Perry speaks to the Senate Judiciary Committee July 31, 2024.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Sen. Dick Durbin/YouTube</p></div></div>

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</div><p>She<b> </b>told Boutros’ team<b> </b>she’d be compiling a list of issues<b> </b>for which she wanted more evidence. Their response could come in the form of live testimony or in writing, she said. Regardless, the judge added, it<b> </b>“has to be under oath, under penalties of perjury.”</p><p>Still, she assured them, “I’m not reaching any conclusions today about what occurred.”</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>

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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/06/27/broadview-six-boutros-chicago" >What to know about the ‘Broadview Six’ scandal rocking Chicago’s federal courthouse</a>
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<p>The judge also concluded that the six former defendants who once faced a felony have no legal stake in what happens next. So she said she’d enlisted William<b> </b>Baude<b> </b>of the University of Chicago Law School to write a brief opposing Boutros’ office, in order to maintain the court’s adversarial process.</p><p>Baude did not respond to messages seeking comment. But<b> </b>Christopher<b> </b>Parente, attorney for former defendant Brian<b> </b>Straw, told reporters after court that Perry is going to “find out the truth about what happened.”</p><p>“They got caught,” Parente said of the feds. “And just like their job is to hold people accountable, day in and day out, now it’s the court’s turn to hold the U.S. attorney’s office accountable for what they did to our clients.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Attorney Christopher Parente speaks to reporters following a hearing Thursday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse over potential sanctions in the controversial “Broadview Six” case.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times</p></div></div>

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</div><p>Perry did not outline her questions for the feds in court, and no further details had appeared on the court docket Thursday evening.</p><p>The “Broadview Six” case revolved around a protest outside an immigration holding facility in west suburban Broadview in September 2025. Prosecutors alleged that a crowd pushed and damaged a federal agent’s SUV. But from that crowd, only the six were charged with a conspiracy<b> </b>to impede<b> </b>the agent.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>

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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/08/17/broadview-six-judge-april-perry-trump-vance" >‘Broadview 6' judge has to decide whether to hold prosecutors accountable after exposing misconduct</a>
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<p>Most of them were involved in local Democratic politics. Straw is an Oak Park village trustee.</p><p>Also charged were then-congressional candidate Kat<b> </b>Abughazaleh, then-Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson Michael Rabbitt, musician<b> </b>Joselyn<b> </b>Walsh<b> </b>and<b> </b>Abughazaleh<b> </b>campaign worker Andre Martin.</p><p>Many of them came to court to listen to Thursday’s arguments, which were held in a packed courtroom on the 17th floor of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Kat Abughazaleh, a member of the so-called “Broadview Six,” walks with attorneys and supporters into the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Thursday.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times</p></div></div>

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</div><p><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/05/21/broadview-ice-protest-grand-jury-transcript-kat-abughazaleh-trump" target="_blank" ><u>The case collapsed</u></a> after Perry discovered<b> </b>that<b> </b>Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri<b> </b>Mecklenburg allegedly<b> </b>spoke to grand jurors outside the grand jury room<b> </b>and put her personal credibility on the line to support charges. The judge also<b> </b>indicated<b> </b>Mecklenburg<b> </b>had excused grand jurors who disagreed with the feds’ case, a claim Mecklenburg denies.</p><p>Mecklenburg retired<b> </b>from the Justice Department<b> </b>last week <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/09/25/broadview-six-boutros-mecklenburg" target="_blank" ><u>in order to defend herself</u></a>.</p><p>Perry said she found “most problematic”<b> </b>the fact that the apparent misconduct was redacted out of transcripts<b> </b>initially given to her by Boutros’ office. The redactions were made after<b> </b>Mecklenburg withdrew from the case.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>

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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/09/25/broadview-six-boutros-mecklenburg" >‘Broadview Six’ prosecutor slams Boutros in resignation letter, saying he pushed doomed felony charges</a>
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<p>The prosecutors who remained – and nearly took it to trial – were<b> </b>William<b> </b>Hogan, Matthew<b> </b>Skiba<b> </b>and<b> </b>Andres<b> </b>Almendarez. During Thursday’s hearing, Boutros’ office was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maxwell<b> </b>Lisy<b> </b>and<b> </b>Nathaniel<b> </b>Whalen.</p><p>It wasn’t long ago that Chicago’s U.S. attorney’s office was considered one of the top tier in the nation. Perry <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/08/17/broadview-six-judge-april-perry-trump-vance" target="_blank" ><u>once served in the office</u></a> and helped prosecute Jon<b> </b>Burge, the late Chicago police commander tied to torture claims who was ultimately convicted of perjury.</p><p>President Joe Biden nominated<b> </b>Perry<b> </b>in 2023 to serve as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor. But <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2024/03/10/april-perry-us-attorney-john-lausch-jd-vance-confirmation-senate" target="_blank" ><u>her confirmation was blocked</u></a> by<b> </b>then-Sen. JD Vance, who is now vice president.</p><p>Boutros was initially named U.S. attorney <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2025/03/28/former-prosecutor-andrew-boutros-named-chicagos-interim-u-s-attorney" target="_blank" ><u>on a temporary basis</u></a> by then-Attorney General Pam<b> </b>Bondi<b> </b>in April 2025. Chicago’s federal judges <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2025/07/25/chicagos-federal-judges-choose-andrew-boutros-as-top-prosecutor" target="_blank" ><u>then chose Boutros</u></a><b> </b>to continue in the role on a more permanent basis in July 2025.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in his offices on April 3, 2026.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Anthony Vazquez</p></div></div>

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</div><p>But Boutros’ office has been in crisis ever since Perry discovered<b> </b>apparent wrongdoing by Boutros’ staff in one of the most prominent cases to result from Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign.</p><p>One year ago this week, Boutros’ office began to level various Blitz-related charges against defendants, only to see them <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2026/tracker-federal-prosecutions-chicago-status-trumps-immigration-blitz-ice" target="_blank" ><u>mostly collapse without convictions</u></a>.</p><p>Now, multiple judges have wondered aloud whether they could trust his office in the wake of the “Broadview Six” revelations. And Perry’s refusal to shoot down the idea of a special prosecutor means the specter of a criminal prosecution still hangs over his head and others.</p><p>While the feds might eventually appeal any action taken by Perry, none of the moves she made Thursday seemed likely to trigger a challenge.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>

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<p>Perry’s inquiry threatens to reach into the upper echelon of the Justice Department, though. She seemed particularly frustrated during Thursday’s hearing when she tried to pin a government lawyer down on<b> </b>a question seemingly answered by the feds earlier this year.</p><p>Did Trump administration officials in Washington interfere in the case?</p><p>Federal prosecutors wrote<b> </b>in a March court filing<b> </b>that there were “no communications of any nature from, to, or with anyone outside”<b> </b>Boutros’ office “regarding any investigatory or charging decisions.”<b> </b>The only exception, they wrote, were local FBI investigators.</p><p>“To be crystal clear, this specifically includes anyone in the White House and all components and offices of Main Justice,” Hogan, Skiba and<b> </b>Almendarez<b> </b>wrote, referring to Justice Department headquarters.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>The Dirksen Federal Courthouse at 219 S. Dearborn St.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Sun-Times file</p></div></div>

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</div><p>During a follow-up hearing in April, Perry even said, “the prosecutors know how to do their jobs. They know that their law licenses in this case are on the line if they do them inappropriately.”</p><p>But Thursday,<b> </b>Whalen acknowledged those communications might exist after all. He said they would have occurred after the decision was made to file charges. Perry tried to pin down when that decision was made, though, given that it took multiple tries for prosecutors to convince grand jurors to indict.</p><p>At one point, Perry’s eyes went wide during Thursday’s hearing as Whalen tried to square his argument with the March court filing.</p><p>The judge said she’d been told “there’s nothing. No way, no how. And now, your argument has changed pretty significantly, and is ‘well, if there was something, it would be privileged.’”</p><p>“I don’t believe I said ‘there’s no way, no how communications,’” Whalen replied.</p><p>“You didn’t,” Perry shot back, emphasizing that the original claim came from prosecutors who nearly took the case to trial.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>

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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/06/01/broadview-six-midway-blitz-abughazaleh-straw-rabbit-perry-trump-ice-crime" >‘Broadview 6’ defendants reflect on case doomed by feds’ apparent misconduct: ‘We didn’t commit a crime’</a>
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<p>The judge spent much of the hearing exploring her various options. For example, she asked Whalen who would oversee a special prosecutor. He told her that person would report to the attorney general, because it’s up to the executive branch “to enforce the criminal laws.”</p><p>When Whalen brought up the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, Perry noted that it “doesn’t investigate criminal offenses.”</p><p>“I think we’ve got to take OPR out of the equation when we’re talking about a special prosecutor,” she said.</p><p>The pair also went back-and-forth on the legal standard used by the Justice Department for opening a criminal investigation, with Perry correcting Whalen along the way.</p><p>Eventually, Perry simply asked him, “why should the judge’s standard be higher than the Department of Justice’s?”</p>

‘Broadview Six’ judge wants to put prosecutors under oath, keeps contempt charges on the table 2026

IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-10-02 01:59:20

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