The former chief of the FBI's Chicago field office has filed a lawsuit against top Justice Department officials, alleging he was forced out of his job after being wrongly blamed for the failed prosecution of six individuals who protested the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Douglas DePodesta claims in the suit that federal prosecutors, led by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros, pursued "politically motivated prosecutions" against Chicago demonstrators without adequate evidence. DePodesta asserts that his superiors informed him that FBI Director Kash Patel pushed for his dismissal before he resigned in the summer.
DePodesta's lawsuit states that Boutros initiated a "campaign" to blame him after the "Broadview Six" case unraveled earlier this year. The case involved charges against approximately 30 protesters arrested during an immigration enforcement operation in Broadview, Illinois, called Operation Midway Blitz. Many of these charges have since been dropped or dismissed.
According to the lawsuit, Boutros allegedly pressured assistant U.S. attorneys to pursue felony charges against protesters, even when they favored misdemeanor charges or no charges at all. DePodesta's attorneys claim Boutros sent emails to DePodesta demanding investigations into individuals based on their opposition to the Trump administration.
In October of the previous year, Boutros charged six individuals with conspiracy to obstruct a federal officer, a felony, related to their actions at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. However, grand jury transcripts later revealed that grand jurors had twice declined to indict the individuals. Boutros dropped all charges against the six in May as the court began to investigate potential prosecutorial misconduct.
The lawsuit alleges that Boutros "repeatedly complained to his superiors in Washington" that the case's failure was DePodesta's fault to deflect from his own alleged misconduct. DePodesta denied these claims to the FBI, and his superiors reportedly conceded that he was being pushed out due to "political pressure Boutros created."
DePodesta's sister-in-law, Nancy DePodesta, who is an attorney representing one of the former defendants, stated that it is "heartbreaking and shameful" that her relative was forced out based on "utterly false rumors spread by" Boutros.
In September, a prosecutor involved in the "Broadview Six" case resigned, alleging in a letter that Boutros had "scapegoated and publicly vilified" her. She subsequently filed a motion asking the court to recognize her as an independent party.
In response to these developments, U.S. District Judge April Perry ordered Boutros and three assistant U.S. attorneys to testify under oath on November 16 regarding the "Broadview Six" case. Perry noted in her order that there was "more than an adequate factual basis for the Court to pursue an inquiry as to whether willful false statements were made to the court."
The former defendants have requested the appointment of a special counsel to investigate potential misconduct by prosecutors. During an October 1 hearing, Perry ordered further "fact-finding" concerning communications between Boutros' office and the Department of Justice leadership. Boutros has previously denied that politics influenced charging decisions.