Durbin and Duckworth demand Andrew 's Boutros resign over Broadview Six
Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth called on Andrew 's Boutros to resign Tuesday after the Broadview Six case collapsed. In a statement, the Illinois senators said his time as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois had been marked by chaos, deep internal dysfunction, and alleged misconduct.
They added: "He must resign, and there must be an open, transparent, and nonpartisan search to nominate the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois." Their demand puts the focus on Chicago's top federal prosecutor just weeks after the criminal case fell apart.
Broadview Six case collapse
The case stemmed from a September protest outside a suburban immigration facility, where a crowd pushed, scratched and otherwise damaged a federal agent's SUV. Prosecutors charged only six people from the crowd, and the case collapsed nearly two weeks before Tuesday amid claims of misconduct by Boutros's prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge April Perry said a prosecutor improperly put her credibility on the line to support the criminal charges. She also said there were substantive communications with grand jurors outside the grand jury room, that a prosecutor excused grand jurors who did not agree with the case, and that prosecutors appeared to try to hide what happened from her by redacting it from a set of transcripts.
Boutros and the prosecutors
Boutros dismissed the charges in the Broadview Six case on May 21. He said that day he had only learned about the apparent misconduct in late April. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi temporarily appointed him to the job in April 2025, and Chicago's federal judges later chose him to serve on a more permanent basis after that appointment expired last summer.
Juliana Stratton joined Durbin and Duckworth in calling for Boutros to resign, saying last week that he had undermined the credibility of his office and should resign or be fired. She said, "As the Trump administration repeatedly attempts to use the justice system as a means of political retaliation, it’s more important than ever that professional standards are followed and the public can trust the charges and conduct coming from the U.S. Attorney’s Office".
Resignation pressure builds
The senators' call arrived as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche planned to testify before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday afternoon. With the Broadview Six collapse already public, the immediate question is whether the Northern District of Illinois keeps operating under Boutros or moves toward a replacement search.
