Activists targeted by DOJ ask judge for special counsel to investigate prosecutors

A group of six immigration rights activists and local political figures known as "The Broadview Six" are calling on a judge to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Justice Department for criminal contempt.

According to the Chicago Sun Times federal courts reporter Jon Seidel, the lawyer for the six made the request to U.S. District Judge April Perry, a former federal prosecutor herself.

The six were targeted as part of the arrests around the immigration raids in Chicago known as "Operation Midway Blitz." Judge Perry discovered apparent prosecutorial misconduct after the defense attorney suggested she review the unredacted transcripts of the grand jury.

Prosecutors browbeat the grand jury, lied and manipulated them to get the indictment they wanted. One grand juror called the case a "crock of s——" and the prosecutors dismissed them. Another who questioned the facts presented by the prosecutors was asked to leave. The case was tried three times, despite the grand jury shooting down the prosecution, the local NBC affiliate described.

As legal analyst Adam Klasfeld of "All Rise News" explained, it took three weeks for the prosecutors to release the grand jury transcripts. In April, Judge Perry found that prosecutors had redacted transcripts or removed any concerning excerpts entirely."

A hearing will determine whether sanctions will be imposed, but the judge is also being asked for more.

The request comes nearly a month after the tainted case against the six Operation Midway Blitz protesters collapsed amid revelations of apparent misconduct before a grand jury by prosecutors from the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros.

Lawyers for five of the cleared former defendants now say an investigation should be initiated because Botrous’ office appears to be laying blame at the feet of a single prosecutor. The defense attorneys say the misconduct “runs much deeper,” and likely into the upper echelon of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

It's the main reason that they want a special counsel hired.

“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,” said a 27-page filing submitted late Tuesday.

“The Department of Justice attorneys involved in this case refused to accept that reality or their Constitutional obligations, committing appalling misconduct and putting their DOJ marching orders above justice,” said attorney Christopher Parente, who represents Chicago politician and former defendant Brian Straw.

They're also searching to see if Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was also involved in the scandal.

The defendants are referred to as the Broadview Six because they were arrested at the Broadview immigration facility.

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