Chicago US attorney defends his meddling with grand jury process over immigration protest case
The top federal prosecutor in Chicago said he made a personal pitch to a grand jury before it indicted protesters who opposed the Trump administration's immigration sweeps last year. It is a rare admission of his role in a secretive process that hadn't been playing out like the government wanted.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros released a five-page statement Tuesday, with transcript excerpts, in response to claims by defense lawyers that he had unusual "personal contact" with the grand jury last October before an indictment was handed up on a third try.
He said he appeared solely to remind jurors of their obligation to be fair and said he wasn't presenting evidence or trying to sway them.
But Boutros also told jurors to “please raise your hand” if they “cannot set aside their personal feelings” about immigration or any other case. It was at a time when President Donald Trump's Justice Department was struggling elsewhere with grand juries.
“It's not normal,” Sol Wisenberg, a former federal prosecutor, said Wednesday. “Typically it's a judge who might make remarks.”
The government's case against the protesters has fallen apart for other reasons. Boutros dropped charges against four activists on May 21 due to alleged misconduct by an assistant U.S. attorney during the grand jury process. There also were claims that jurors who disagreed with returning an indictment were prevented from participating.
When the case was dismissed, Boutros told a judge: “No one acted with the intent to mislead, your honor."
A federal grand jury has 16 to 23 people who meet in private. A prosecutor presents evidence, and there isn't a role for a defense lawyer. The grand jury doesn’t need to make a unanimous decision, though 12 votes are necessary for an indictment. The jurors are sworn to secrecy, along with prosecutors and investigators.
It is uncommon for a U.S. attorney in a major city to appear in the grand jury room. Boutros said he didn't speak to jurors about how to apply the law or the evidence against the protesters at a Chicago-area immigration detention site.
Rather, he suggested that he was there simply to give a pep talk while his staff handled the details of the case. Boutros' office said a grand jury unwilling to receive “evidence impartially without fear or favor” is a threat to enforcing the law.
“In such unchartered and unprecedented circumstances, extraordinary measures may be required to restore the rule of law,” the report states.
A defense attorney in the case, Josh Herman, is troubled by Boutros' role. He said it's “chilling” that Boutros asked jurors to identify themselves if they couldn't put aside their personal feelings when hearing evidence in certain cases before the grand jury returned an indictment on the third attempt.
“The fact that the indictment has now been dismissed due to other misconduct before the grand jury does not cure the many wrongs that happened here,” said Herman, who with other attorneys is asking a judge to order the government to pay their fees.
The Chicago case is part of a pattern of the Justice Department during the second Trump administration struggling with grand juries.
A panel of judges in Wyoming recently dismissed charges against nine people after the U.S. attorney there told jurors that the accused were “bad guys” and “murderers.” He handed out business cards and invited them to reach out individually to him.
In November, a federal magistrate judge scolded a Trump loyalist who secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, saying Lindsey Halligan had engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps.”
The irregularities have been cited by lawyers who are seeking grand jury transcripts in the case against independent journalist Don Lemon. He is charged in connection with an immigration enforcement protest at a Minnesota church.
Boutros was appointed U.S. attorney in 2025 for northern Illinois by the Justice Department, a role that was extended last year by judges at U.S. District Court. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Illinois Democrats, have called for him to resign, citing chaos and “deep internal dysfunction” in his office.
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
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