Sens. Durbin and Duckworth demand US Attorney Boutros resign

Illinois’ two Democratic U.S. senators called Tuesday for U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros to resign, saying his office has been “riddled with chaos, deep internal dysfunction, and alleged misconduct.”

“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,” Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth said in a joint written statement.

The demand is the latest fallout from the collapse of the “Broadview Six” case, which fell apart on the eve of trial last month over stunning accusations of misconduct by federal prosecutors in the grand jury and an attempt to hide it from the judge presiding over the case.

The senators’ statement also comes as Boutros fights a different controversy that drew national attention last week after it was revealed his office is leading a criminal investigation into a Chicago-based nonprofit that partially funded legal fees for E. Jean Carroll, the magazine columnist who successfully sued President Donald Trump for sexual assault and defamation. In a carefully worded statement, Boutros said last week reports of any investigation targeting Carroll were “categorically false.”

As the scandal has widened, morale within the already-beleaguered U.S. attorney’s office has gone into free fall. Several prosecutors who played a role in the Broadview Six case have hired attorneys, judges have signaled possible hearings and speculation is running rampant about who might face consequences.

Other politicians have called for Boutros to step down, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. Biss is a Democratic nominee running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, while Stratton is the Democratic nominee seeking to replace Durbin, who is retiring at the end of his term in early 2027.

But the move by Duckworth and Durbin, who is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, ups the ante considerably for Boutros, who has tried to contain the damage by highlighting his office’s successes and announcing reforms to grand jury practices.

A spokesman for Boutros had no immediate comment Tuesday.

Boutros, a former federal prosecutor and Chicago white-collar attorney, was nominated by Trump for the post in 2025. The president made the selection over the advice of a search committee led by Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, of Peoria, which recommended other candidates.

In his first year in office, Boutros has been forced to deal with multiple crises under the new Trump administration, including a hiring freeze, federal budget cuts, a lengthy government shutdown and a mass exodus of experienced prosecutors from the office.

But the biggest challenge during Boutros’ tenure has proven to be Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement action that descended on Chicago last fall. The U.S. attorney’s office charged nearly three dozen people with crimes stemming from protests and other resistance to the actions of immigration agents — cases that have largely unraveled under court and public scrutiny.

The most consequential of those priorities proved to be Operation Midway Blitz, the administration’s sweeping fall immigration enforcement action in Chicago. The U.S. attorney’s office charged nearly three dozen people with crimes arising from protests and resistance to federal immigration agents — cases that have largely unraveled under court scrutiny.

The most high-profile collapse was the Broadview Six case in which a group of protesters, most with ties to local Democratic politics, were indicted in October on felony charges alleging they conspired to damage and impede an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent’s vehicle at a suburban ICE processing facility on Sept. 26.

The case was beset by controversy from the moment the indictment was brought, as the defense alleged the charges were brought amid pressure from the Trump administration and were nothing more than an attempt to silence protests of the president’s harsh immigration policies.