The federal prosecutor at the center of Chicago’s “Broadview Six” scandal broke her silence Thursday, insisting through her attorneys that she “owns” her mistakes in the tainted case, even as she accused the former defendants of trying to “smear her with meritless accusations.”Sheri Me cklenburg announced her retirement in a 16-page court filing from her attorneys, who insisted she followed the instructions of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ front office “at every turn” as she sought to bring the case against six Operation Midway Blitz protesters.Boutros’ office warned that Mecklenburg could be disciplined or fired if she filed Thursday’s document, her attorneys wrote. So she decided to end her two-decade career as a federal prosecutor, four months after the “Broadview Six” case collapsed in spectacular fashion. Related What to know about the ‘Broadview Six’ scandal rocking Chicago’s federal courthouse “To the extent that Ms. Mecklenburg made mistakes … she owns them,” her attorneys, Sergio Acosta and Joel Bertocchi wrote.They acknowledged that Mecklenburg spoke with grand jurors outside the grand jury room and engaged in a forbidden practice known as “vouching.” But, they wrote, “at no time did she excuse any grand juror based on his or her ‘opposition to the government’s case.’”Mecklenburg’s filing comes as the “Broadview Six” scandal is threatening to heat up all over again. It already caused a credibility crisis for Boutros this summer unlike any faced by his recent predecessors. Now, U.S. District Judge April Perry has said she’ll hear arguments Oct. 1 on the potential consequences of the prosecutorial misconduct she discovered last spring.Mecklenburg wants to intervene in the case if Perry goes forward with a separate evidentiary hearing, or if she appoints a special counsel to investigate Boutros, Mecklenburg and others for criminal contempt.Former defendants in the case quickly signaled their support Thursday evening. Their attorneys told Perry in their own filing that “Ms. Mecklenburg — who is no longer subject to the threat of termination for providing information in this case — is now able to provide highly material evidence.” U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in his offices on April 3.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times The group recently raised questions about Boutros’ Oct. 14 receipt of a transcript that documented some of Mecklenburg’s missteps. Her new filing answered at least one of their questions, noting “the U.S. Attorney directed Ms. Mecklenburg to order an expedited copy.”Boutros has said he doesn’t remember reading the transcript last fall. He told Perry he didn’t learn of the alleged misconduct it documented until late April. Still, the former defendants’ attorneys on Thursday called Mecklenburg’s revelation “extraordinarily important.”Boutros’ office declined to comment.The “Broadview Six” conspiracy case revolved around a Midway Blitz protest Sept. 26, 2025, outside an immigration holding facility in Broadview. The one-year anniversary of the event is Saturday.Prosecutors alleged that a crowd pushed and damaged a federal agent’s SUV. But from that crowd, only six were charged. Most of them were involved in local Democratic politics, raising questions about selective prosecution.The former defendants were then-congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw, then-Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson Michael Rabbitt, musician Joselyn Walsh and Abughazaleh campaign worker Andre Martin. A composite of photos of the so-called “Broadview Six.” Clockwise from top left: Michael Rabbitt, Brian Straw, Kat Abughazaleh, Andre Martin, Joselyn Walsh and Catherine “Cat” Sharp.Sun-Times Perry on May 21 said she was “incredibly shocked” to discover the apparent misconduct recorded in grand jury transcripts from the case. She’d reviewed them at the urging of defense attorneys and later outlined Mecklenburg’s missteps, including her alleged “vouching.”Vouching occurs when prosecutors put their personal credibility on the line to support criminal charges. Grand jurors are expected to hand up indictments based on evidence, not the goodwill of a prosecutor who already has the upper hand in the grand jury room.Perry also accused Mecklenburg of “excusing grand jurors who disagreed with the government’s case.” Federal rules of criminal procedure only empower “the court” to excuse a grand juror. In Chicago, that would be U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall.But Mecklenburg’s attorneys took issue with that claim. They pointed to the Federal Grand Jury Practice Manual’s advice on grand jurors who can’t be objective. The attorneys wrote that, after a grand juror “expressly stated” they could not be fair in the “Broadview Six” case, Mecklenburg “perhaps inartfully” told that person to excuse himself, the attorneys wrote.“The assertion that Ms. Mecklenburg ‘excused’ a second grand juror is simply inaccurate,” they added. “That grand juror excused him/herself.” Related ‘Broadview 6' judge has to decide whether to hold prosecutors accountable after exposing misconduct Not all of the problems in the “Broadview Six” case have been laid at Mecklenburg’s feet. Perry said she found “most problematic” the fact that alleged misconduct had been redacted out of transcripts given to her earlier by the feds.Mecklenburg withdrew from the case in February, before the redacted transcripts were given to the judge. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan has taken responsibility for the redactions.Meanwhile, defense attorneys are keenly interested in Boutros’ receipt of one grand jury transcript in the case, from Oct. 9. Mecklenburg allegedly vouched that day, telling grand jurors “I don’t charge people unless I’m absolutely sure.”Grand jurors also heard from the lead agent in the investigation, records show. But they rejected the case, in a once-rare rebuke of prosecutors known as a “no-bill.” After Mecklenburg told Boutros and his leadership team about the no-bill, Boutros told her to order an expedited copy of the transcript, according to Mecklenburg’s lawyers. Related Transcripts reveal tension, improprieties during ‘Broadview 6’ grand jury hearings Mecklenburg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skiba brought the case back to the grand jury a week later, on Oct. 16. They changed tactics, offering testimony from the alleged victim in the case — the agent who had driven the SUV. That session ended abruptly after Mecklenburg told Boutros’ leadership team about the “excusing of grand jurors,” records show.“Mecklenburg only re-presented the case on Oct. 16 after receiving the instruction to do so from the U.S. Attorney,” Acosta and Bertocchi wrote.The grand jury finally handed up an indictment against the six protesters when the feds tried a third time, on Oct. 23.“At every turn Ms. Mecklenburg kept the Front Office informed of all developments in the case and followed its instructions,” her attorneys wrote.They added, “she did not try to hide anything she said or did in the Oct. 9 grand jury session.” ...read more read less