A federal judge overseeing an inquiry into whether prosecutors misled the court in the “Broadview Six” case has canceled a Justice Department hearing about her authority to investigate the matter.
U.S. District Judge April Perry, appointed by President Biden, has directed four federal prosecutors, including Chicago’s U.S. attorney, to testify under oath. She is weighing whether sanctions or criminal contempt proceedings may be appropriate.
In a ruling Wednesday, Perry said the department’s claim that it was unclear about her authority to question lawyers over possible misstatements did not change the issue. She therefore canceled the hearing, which had been set for Nov. 17.
The Justice Department dismissed its criminal case against the six protesters in May, after allegations of misconduct involving former federal prosecutor Sheri Mecklenburg, who later resigned. Perry’s inquiry into how prosecutors handled the case has continued.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward argued that requiring prosecutors to testify could put them in an untenable position: they might risk prosecution by answering questions, or risk upsetting the court by invoking their Fifth Amendment rights, while also facing possible non-contempt sanctions.
Perry rejected that argument, noting that the government does not represent at least three of the four people ordered to testify, and that two have said they are willing to appear.
The judge has ordered U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros and three assistant U.S. attorneys in Illinois’ Northern District—William Hogan, Matthew Skiba and Andres Almendarez—to testify Monday. Their testimony is expected to cover what prosecutors knew about possible misconduct before the grand jury, whether statements made to the court were accurate, why grand jury transcripts were redacted, and whether officials outside the U.S. attorney’s office received information about the investigation.
Perry said the court docket does not show that the government represents Boutros. She may use the testimony to decide whether sanctions or criminal contempt proceedings are warranted.
The canceled hearing comes amid a separate disagreement over communications the Justice Department has withheld from the judge. On Monday, Woodward argued that some exchanges involving federal prosecutors were privileged. The department also filed a log listing the withheld communications and its reasons for keeping them private.
Perry found the filing deficient on Tuesday, saying it obscured the identities of numerous senders and recipients in long email chains. She also questioned the department’s response to her request for an email sent to Boutros that included an expedited transcript of an Oct. 9, 2025, grand jury session. That was the first session in which jurors declined to return an indictment. Perry said the PDF provided to her lacked metadata that might show whether Boutros had read the message.
Prosecutors were given until Thursday to respond to the judge’s concerns. Perry’s inquiry began May 20, when she ordered prosecutors involved in redacting grand jury transcripts to appear in court. She questioned them in a sealed hearing the next day.
In October, Perry sought communications between federal prosecutors and outside officials about investigative and charging decisions, saying several parts of the prosecution appeared seriously flawed.
The inquiry centers in part on the grand jury’s refusal to indict on Oct. 9, 2025, and again at a later session convened by Boutros. Two jurors were excused over concerns about their impartiality. They returned for a third session on Oct. 23, when the grand jury indicted the protesters on a felony conspiracy charge.
Court records show that transcripts first given to Perry in April contained redactions that concealed potential evidence of misconduct. That included allegations that Mecklenburg improperly vouched for the government’s case during the Oct. 9 grand jury presentation.
The six defendants, including former Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, were charged over a Sept. 26, 2025, confrontation outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. Prosecutors alleged the group surrounded an immigration agent’s vehicle to keep him from entering the facility. People in the crowd were also accused of damaging a side mirror and windshield wiper, though prosecutors did not say any of the six defendants personally caused the damage.
The other defendants were Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw, Chicago Democratic Committeeman Michael Rabbitt, Abughazaleh campaign staffer Andre Martin, former Cook County Board candidate Catherine Sharp and musician Joselyn Walsh.
