A veteran federal prosecutor’s grand jury misconduct is so pervasive that the Justice Department now expects to review more than 100 cases she handled going back to 2007.
A court filing in the Northern District of Illinois names the case that started it all: the collapsed prosecution of the “Broadview Six.” News reports identify the lead prosecutor as Sheri Mecklenburg, a nearly two-decade veteran of the Justice Department whose conduct before a grand jury unraveled a high-profile case against six Democratic officials and activists arrested for protesting outside a Chicago Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility during the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” deportation campaign.
Prosecutors made three attempts to indict the protesters on a rare felony conspiracy charge.
During those attempts, Mecklenburg allegedly dismissed grand jurors who were skeptical of the government’s case, had private conversations with grand jurors outside formal proceedings, and told jurors she would “never ask you to charge somebody if I didn’t think there was probable cause.” One dismissed juror had told her the case was “a crock of s— then and I still think it is.”
“I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts,” U.S. District Judge April Perry said. “That trust has been broken.”
The Broadview Six case collapsed entirely. All charges were dismissed with prejudice.
A separate court filing revealed Mecklenburg had ex parte contact with grand jurors in an unrelated arson case, telling them she “can prove this case” and that “we don’t catch the smart ones.” The government now estimates her conduct will trigger review of grand jury minutes in more than 100 cases since 2007.
Critics say the episode fits a broader pattern. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called Trump’s Justice Department a campaign to “bully, prosecute, punish and silence” political foes. Slate noted the Department of Justice admitted to “weaponizing a prosecution against Trump’s foes.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) confirmed Mecklenburg’s detail to the Senate Judiciary Committee was terminated after the misconduct became public.
