Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros Defends Independence After Tumultuous First Year

Overview

• Marking his one-year anniversary on Tuesday, Boutros said his office takes no political orders from Washington and that politics played no role in charging decisions.
• He acknowledged Operation Midway Blitz suffered coordination problems with an out-of-town surge of agents and said prosecutors moved from charging on reactive arrests to an investigate-then-evaluate approach.
• Prosecutors brought 32 known nonimmigration cases tied to the blitz with no convictions to date, and about 20 defendants have been cleared as the office reviewed hundreds of arrests and declined many charges.
• He cited recent violent-crime moves, including a terrorism charge in the CTA Blue Line fire case and a weapons charge in the killing of Loyola student Sheridan Gorman, while the ATF’s Chicago chief said violent cases are now a priority.
• After what former prosecutors called an unprecedented exodus of veterans, Boutros said he is on a major hiring push for about 50 staff this year, a shift that could affect case speed and the office’s long-running public corruption work.