'Broadview Six' lawyers seek special counsel to probe Trump DOJ
The Trump DOJ wants to "scapegoat" one Democratic-tied prosecutor for "gross misconduct," but the rot goes far deeper, lawyers say.
Stay tuned for a Substack Live on this development with Glenn Kirschner at 4 p.m. ET.
The Trump Justice Department’s case against the Chicago-based protesters and politicians known as the “Broadview Six” collapsed in spectacular fashion late last month amid allegations of grand jury misconduct.
On Tuesday evening, defense attorneys in the now-dismissed case asked a federal judge to appoint a special counsel to determine whether government attorneys should be prosecuted for criminal contempt — and if so, how high the “gross misconduct” before the grand jury went.
“Indeed, these steps must be taken in large part because of what appears to be a determined effort to blame a single prosecutor when the misconduct now known — particularly in this case — runs much deeper and indeed to the highest levels of the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office and likely to the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.,” the defense motion states. “To not appoint a special prosecutor here would enable the government’s strategy to lay all that has happened on a single scapegoat, a convenient outcome for those who are eager to turn the page.”
‘Unique and Sorry Chapter’
One of several prosecutions of anti-immigration protesters across the United States, the “Broadview Six” — who were arrested in connection with demonstrations outside an ICE facility in a Chicago suburb — received little national attention until the case went down in flames last month amid allegations of grand jury misconduct.
The Trump Justice Department has tried to shift the blame to former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, a career prosecutor who was detailed as counsel for Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois in the Senate Judiciary Committee. She was fired from that role after the “Broadview Six” grand jury scandal came to light, but defense attorneys told the judge to push for accountability much farther up the chain of command, including the Northern District of Illinois’s Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros and likely more senior officials in Washington, D.C.
“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 motion states.
The “Broadview Six” were charged with conspiring to impede law enforcement at a protest outside an immigration facility outside of Chicago. Days before a trial, prosecutors voluntarily dismissed the case when pressed to disclose grand jury transcripts, arguing that any further investigation into what happened was moot.
U.S. District Judge April Perry ordered the release of the transcripts anyway, finding that the records showed evidence of prosecutors engaging in various forms of misconduct and covering it up through redactions. It later emerged that the grand jury initially returned a no-true-bill, rejecting the indictment presented to them.
“I heard this case like last week, and I thought it was a crock of shit then and I still think it is,” said one grand juror, who was quickly excused by the government.
The transcripts showed prosecutors cajoling the grand jurors, culling out those who expressed doubts, and telling the panel to trust their judgment in order to obtain an indictment weeks later.
‘Serious, serial misconduct’
The “Broadview Six” defense attorneys argue that the government’s efforts to “cover up the grave prosecutorial misconduct” demonstrate that the problem extends far beyond a single prosecutor.
“When faced with an order to submit the transcripts to the Court, the government willfully hid the misconduct from the Court by submitting redacted and incomplete transcripts,” their motion states. “When again directed by the Court to produce unredacted transcripts, the government continued its orchestrated (and ongoing) effort to hide the scope and breadth of the misconduct by dismissing the indictment and arguing the dismissal mooted the need to review the transcripts, staying silent about the serious, serial misconduct it always knew lay beneath the redactions.”
Attorney Christopher Parente, who represented “Broadview Six” defendant Brian Straw, said that a special counsel investigation into his client’s case could have national implications.
"Our democracy is built on laws, justice and — most important — accountability for those in power who violate public trust by putting partisan politics above an oath to the Constitution,” Parente said in a statement. “Today's motion is a recognition that the misconduct and miscarriage of justice in the Broadview Six case is not just about six protestors who were targeted at one immigration facility. It is 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.”
The “Broadview Six” are hardly the only anti-ICE protesters and politicians whose prosecutions have collapsed.
In the District of New Jersey, prosecutors dropped trespassing charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) over his oversight at an immigration detention facility in his city. Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was recently acquitted of an obstruction charge at an immigration court in lower Manhattan. Several other lower-profile cases against ICE protesters ended in acquittals or dropped charges.
Undeterred, the Trump Justice Department’s wave of felony prosecutions against anti-ICE protesters continues nationwide.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Minnesota announced a similar 15-defendant case against immigration protesters charged with conspiring to impede agents.
Read the defense motion here.
This is certainly one of the most important cases I have seen this year and I am grateful you are following it, Adam. I suppose it is too much to hope that this may lead to bringing down the DOJ corruption that has made this kind of subterfuge possible, but I nevertheless do hope exactly that.