Federal prosecutors in Chicago delivered a full-throated defense Monday of the conspiracy case leveled against the so-called “Broadview Six,” insisting that any claim of selective or vindictive prosecution is “the product of fevered paranoia and delusional speculation.”
They mocked the notion that White House officials “had such an interest in local Illinois government” to pick “politically obscure figures” like Kat Abughazaleh out of a crowd, “order their selective and vindictive prosecution, and blithely expect career prosecutors in Chicago to violate multiple ethical and legal standards.”
They also seemed to take such accusations personally, complaining that “the unavoidable conclusions to be drawn” are that officials in Chicago’s U.S. attorney’s office “have not only acted in bad faith but have committed prosecutorial misconduct.”
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Ultimately, prosecutors insisted that “there are no communications of any nature from, to, or with anyone” outside the U.S. attorney’s office regarding investigative or charging decisions in the case, aside from local FBI investigators.
“To be crystal clear, this specifically includes anyone in the White House and all components and offices of Main Justice,” Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan wrote in Monday’s 21-page court filing.
Hogan’s commentary came in the conspiracy case against a group of activists who protested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview last fall, during the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign.
The feds originally charged six of the activists but dropped charges against two. Still charged are former congressional candidate Abughazaleh, Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw, 45th Ward Democratic comm
