A Justice Department prosecutor abruptly retired this week after being warned she could be fired for defending herself as a judge weighs a criminal probe tied to President Donald Trump's Chicago immigration crackdown.
Sheri Mecklenburg, the former lead prosecutor in the "Broadview Six" protest case, disclosed the warning Thursday in a motion asking U.S. District Judge April Perry to let her argue on her own behalf.
Perry will hear arguments Oct. 1 on whether to name an independent special counsel to investigate U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros and others over the case, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"[W]hen notified (through counsel) that she intended to file a motion to intervene, the U.S. Attorney's Office advised that, as a Department of Justice employee, Ms. Mecklenburg was not permitted to file anything on her behalf and could be disciplined or terminated if she did so," her attorneys wrote.
"Ms. Mecklenburg then notified the U.S. Attorney's Office that she was retiring, effective on September 24, in part so that she can address these issues on her own behalf," the motion continued. Her retirement took effect the same day she filed, according to court records.
The former defendants are seeking a hearing on sanctions and "the appointment of a prosecutor to investigate her conduct and possibly to prosecute her," along with others, for criminal contempt, the motion says. That charge punishes people who disobey or obstruct a court.
"[T]here is no question that she is among those against whom Former Defendants seek sanctions and those they would like to see investigated for criminal contempt," her attorneys wrote.
The case grew out of a Sept. 26, 2025, protest outside an immigration facility in suburban Broadview during the crackdown, known as Operation Midway Blitz. Prosecutors charged six protesters, most of them active in local Democratic politics, with conspiring to impede a federal agent, the Sun-Times reported.
Three weeks before the protest, on Sept. 6, Trump threatened Chicago in a Truth Social image styled after the film "Apocalypse Now," declaring the city was "about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR," CBS Chicago reported.
In early October, amid clashes between protesters and federal agents in Broadview, Trump ordered 400 Texas National Guard members to Illinois, Oregon and other locations, Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) said, according to CBS Chicago.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 8.
The next day, the grand jury refused to indict the protesters, returning a rare "no bill," Capitol News Illinois reported.
When Mecklenburg returned to the same grand jury on Oct. 16, she told jurors she "did not do my job" the week before and had not explained the law "well enough," the outlet reported, citing transcripts Perry released in June.
"I heard this case like last week and I thought it was a crock of s— then and I still think it is," one grand juror told her, according to the transcripts.
Mecklenburg dismissed the juror, telling them to "have a good evening," according to the report. Prosecutors won an indictment from the same panel on their third try, on Oct. 23. The former defendants have since asked for any evidence that White House officials pressured Boutros' office to secure the indictment.
"To the extent that Ms. Mecklenburg made mistakes, as the Court suggested, she owns them," her attorneys wrote.
The motion concedes she should not have vouched for the case, meaning she put her personal credibility behind the charges, during the first grand jury session. It also concedes she should not have spoken with two grand jurors outside the grand jury room.
But the motion disputes that she improperly excused jurors, saying she followed Justice Department guidance and that a second juror "excused him/herself."
The Justice Department is opposing the former defendants' motions and argues that Mecklenburg did not commit misconduct, a position she shares, according to her motion.
On May 21, after Perry rebuked prosecutors over apparent misconduct before the grand jury, Boutros appeared in her courtroom, dropped the remaining charges and took responsibility for the alleged misconduct, Capitol News Illinois reported.
Mecklenburg had left Chicago in February for a Justice Department assignment in Washington, withdrew from the case and received no notice of later hearings, the motion says.
"In fact, Ms. Mecklenburg only learned of the Court's May 21, 2026 hearing and the events that transpired that evening, when she received a call from a reporter," her attorneys wrote.
The motion argues that "no other party to this case, including the United States, can fully represent" her interests.
"Ms. Mecklenburg only re-presented the case on October 16 after receiving the instruction to do so from the U.S. Attorney," her attorneys wrote, adding that the government's brief did not explain it.
"The United States also omitted the fact that … the U.S. Attorney directed Ms. Mecklenburg to order an expedited copy of the October 9 grand jury session," the motion says.