Embattled Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros released an unorthodox five-page report Tuesday confirming he had contact with federal grand jurors last fall who then handed up an indictment against the “Broadview Six” the same day.The report stresses that Boutros did not appear before the panel as it specifically considered the “facts, evidence or law” in the tainted “Broadview Six” case. But it seems to confirm a defense attorney’s prior claim that Boutros had “personal contact with this grand jury.”The city’s top federal prosecutor on Oct. 23 urged grand jurors “struggling with a certain type of cases, such as the immigration cases,” to “raise your hand and identify yourself,” according to the report. Related ‘Broadview 6’ defendants reflect on case doomed by feds’ apparent misconduct: ‘We didn’t commit a crime’ The document also hints at “grand jury disturbances and potential tension,” at a time when such panels were rejecting criminal charges brought by Boutros’ office that were tied to Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s deportation campaign in the Chicago area last fall.It concludes that “grand juries unwilling to deliberate individually or as a collective body, or unwilling to attend grand jury sessions at all … are a threat to the rule of law.”“In such unchartered and unprecedented circumstances, extraordinary measures may be required to restore the rule of law,” Boutros’ report concludes.Grand jury proceedings are cloaked in secrecy, making Boutros’ disclosure unusual and surprising. It came the same day that U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth called on Boutros to resign. They said his 14 months in office have "been riddled with chaos, deep internal dysfunction, and alleged misconduct.”Meanwhile, the former “Broadview Six” defendants formally filed a motion seeking attorneys’ fees. Their motion said that Boutros’ report only “heightened” questions about how he and his team handled grand juries during prosecutions tied to Midway Blitz.U.S. District Judge April Perry presides over the “Broadview Six” case and is handling the question of whether grand jury transcripts from the case should be released. A spokesman for U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall confirmed Tuesday that Kendall granted a motion from Boutros to release excerpts of the transcripts.It’s unclear whether Perry was notified. Three of the six members of the “Broadview Six,” who had their charges dropped amid revelations of apparent prosecutorial misconduct. Brian Straw (from left), Kat Abughazaleh and Michael Rabbitt.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Grand jurors refused to hand up indictments on multiple known occasions during Midway Blitz. Known as a “no bill,” it was once considered an extremely rare rebuke of prosecutors. However, one such “no bill” in the case of two Midway Blitz defendants became public Oct. 8.Boutros’ prosecutors then appeared before grand jurors Oct. 9, Oct. 16 and Oct. 23 in what became known as the “Broadview Six” case, records show. On Oct. 23, a grand jury handed up an indictment accusing six Midway Blitz protesters of a conspiracy for being part of a crowd that surrounded an immigration agent’s SUV and pushed, scratched and otherwise damaged it.The six defendants were identified out of a much larger crowd and were mostly involved in local Democratic politics.The feds nearly took four of the defendants to trial last month on misdemeanor charges. But days before trial, Perry revealed apparent misconduct by Boutros’ office in front of the grand jury. Boutros then dismissed the charges and said he didn’t know about the improprieties until late April.Christopher Parente, an attorney for former “Broadview Six” defendant Brian Straw, later told Perry there was reason to believe Boutros had “personal contact with this grand jury.” Related Grand jurors in tainted ‘Broadview 6' case had contact with Chicago’s top federal prosecutor, defense says Boutros’ report is clearly meant to refute that notion. It says “Boutros has never appeared before the panel of grand jurors hearing facts, evidence, or law” in the “Broadview Six” matter.But it also acknowledges he appeared before what’s known as the Special June 2024 Grand Jury — which considered the “Broadview Six” case and had once rejected it — for nearly four minutes on Oct. 23.He told the panel that “these are trying times.”“If there's anyone here who is struggling with a certain type of cases, such as the immigration cases or other cases where they do not believe that they can set aside their personal, their personal emotions, that they cannot listen and deliberate honestly and objectively, I would ask that you raise your hand and identify yourself,” Boutros told the grand jurors.Boutros’ report notes that his appearance “coincided with the reading of a letter to those grand juries from the chief judge.” Kendall’s spokesman confirmed the letter exists but said it could not be released.The disclosures raised new questions about federal prosecutors’ struggles with grand juries in Chicago during the Midway Blitz campaign. Related Chicago’s federal court will begin notifying the public when a grand jury rejects criminal charges Former federal prosecutor Gary Shapiro called Boutros' remarks to the grand jury “pretty unusual.”Shapiro previously served as the second-highest ranking federal prosecutor in Chicago, as well as acting U.S. attorney. He spent 22 years as the liaison between the U.S. attorney’s office and the chief judge, between 1992 and 2014.Shapiro told the Sun-Times that one of his “guiding principles” during that time was that “the U.S. attorney’s office should have absolutely nothing to do with the way in which a grand jury is constituted.”When grand jurors first began their service, he said he’d tell them to take any such concerns to the clerk of the court or the chief judge.“If it was about the membership in the grand jury, or the selection of grand jurors, it was always going to be what the chief judge wanted done,” Shapiro said. “And we just thought, under the circumstances, we should have nothing to do with it unless the chief judge wanted us to.” ...read more read less