Congress Must Investigate DOJ's Broadview Six Prosecution

A federal prosecutor has resigned "under protest," saying she was pushed to bring felony charges she believed went too far.

As The New Republic reports, Sheri Mecklenburg, the lead prosecutor in the "Broadview Six" case, wrote in a resignation letter obtained by The New York Times that U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros personally directed a felony prosecution over her objection that the case was better suited to misdemeanor charges. She says the office then publicly blamed her when the case failed, announced an investigation of her conduct spanning twenty years, and threatened to fire her if she spoke up. The Justice Department denies her claims.

The case itself fell apart. Six people who protested outside an ICE detention center in Broadview, Illinois, were charged with felony conspiracy, carrying up to six years in prison, for blocking an ICE vehicle. A federal judge threw out the case with prejudice in April after it was found that Boutros had been in contact with members of the grand jury.

Add your name to demand that Congress investigate whether the Justice Department's Chicago office brought politically motivated charges against ICE protesters, examine the claims in Mecklenburg's letter, and review the U.S. Attorney's contact with grand jurors.

Prosecutors are supposed to follow the facts and the law. Congress has the oversight power to find out whether charges are being driven by politics, and whether career attorneys are being punished for objecting.