United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros Issues Rare Special Report Regarding Federal Grand Jury Appearances

Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, today issued a rare Special Report confirming what he has already stated publicly in response to intense press interest and inquiries: He has never appeared before any grand jury hearing or deliberating evidence on any matter since becoming U.S. Attorney on April 7, 2025.

As addressed in the Special Report, U.S. Attorney Boutros’s only appearances in the federal grand juries of the Northern District of Illinois were to welcome grand jurors when first impaneled, and thereafter, his only other appearances were in his official capacity as the Chief Legal Advisor to federal grand juries where he addressed generally the role, function, and importance of the grand jury in our constitutional system of government and laws.

In the latter context, U.S. Attorney Boutros appeared only after informing the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, who supervises all federal grand juries in the District, that he would be doing so.

Then, his appearances as Chief Legal Advisor to the grand juries consisted of him providing brief general comments about the important role of the grand jury under the U.S. Constitution, and the need for grand jurors to be fair and impartial.

His comments coincided with the reading of a letter from the Chief Judge to the various grand juries; U.S. Attorney Boutros has not seen, read, or heard the contents of the Chief Judge’s letter.

As a condition to issuing today’s Special Report, U.S. Attorney Boutros obtained court-ordered authorization for the release of grand jury materials and minutes. Today’s Special Report is being made available to the public in the public interest as well as the interest of justice in light of wide-ranging speculation about U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros’s appearance in what some have dubbed the “Broadview 6” grand jury, which is the panel of grand jurors from the Special June 2024 Grand Jury hearing evidence on that specific matter. That speculation was created on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in open court, when counsel for the one of the defendants in United States v. Rabbitt, et al., 25 CR 693 (Perry, J.) stated in relevant part in open court before going into closed session that: “We have a belief that the U.S. Attorney had personal contact with this grand jury. We have not been provided with that transcript. I believe there’s an update on that. If that did occur, we would like that as well.” Rabbitt, et al., Transcript, 05/26/2026, p. 22, lns. 13-16.

The Special Report conclusively shows that a transcription error by the court reporter transcribing the audio recording of the grand jury minutes from October 23, 2025, inadvertently and mistakenly stated “USA (inaudible),” instead of “AUSA Bond,” with the latter being a reference to Assistant United States Attorney Aaron Bond, the Chief of the Office’s Narcotics Section, who had appeared before the same grand jury on a different, unrelated matter on October 9, 2025. Thus, the grand jury minutes from October 23, 2025, reflect a classic case of mistaken identity, namely, that “USA (inaudible)” appeared before that grand jury on a matter when in fact, Chief of Narcotics Aaron Bond appeared before the same grand jury on a different matter on October 9, 2025. Steps are being taken to attempt to correct the relevant minutes.

The full Special Report can be read here.

Note: The Special Report consists of grand jury materials that would otherwise be subject to grand jury secrecy pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), including highly secretive grand jury “minutes,” which are those portions of a grand jury session where an Assistant U.S. Attorney speaks to grand jurors about the law or sometimes the application of the law to the facts, without a witness present. Prior to publishing these materials in the Special Report, U.S. Attorney Boutros obtained court-ordered authorization from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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