Ex-FBI chief in Chicago sues Justice Department, claiming pressure to investigate Trump's foes

The former head of the FBI in Chicago, Douglas DePodesta, has accused the Trump administration of pressuring him to investigate the president's political opponents and making him a 'scapegoat' after a major federal case against anti-immigration-enforcement protesters fell apart.

In a federal lawsuit filed on Monday, DePodesta alleged that the Department of Justice (DoJ) had engaged in 'misconduct' and 'malfeasance' in its pursuit of unjust prosecutions, and that he was wrongly blamed for the department's missteps and unlawfully forced out of his job.

The suit names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Andrew Boutros, the US attorney who leads the DoJ's Chicago office. DePodesta served as the FBI's special agent in charge in Chicago from 2024 until July 2026.

The complaint alleges that Boutros pursued 'politically motivated prosecutions' of protesters that turned into an 'unprecedented disaster' for the DoJ, and accuses the US attorney of making 'intentionally' false statements to a judge.

The suit centres on the collapse of the DoJ's criminal case against six activists who protested outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview in September 2025. The activists, known as the Broadview Six, were charged with conspiracy to impede an ICE officer; after months, prosecutors were forced to dismiss the case following a series of missteps.

According to the suit, a grand jury initially rejected the charges — an extremely rare outcome, since the standard of proof is low and grand juries typically return the indictments the DoJ seeks. Even after jurors expressed scepticism about the charges after reviewing footage, prosecutors went back to the grand jury, with Boutros himself appearing in court to urge charges.

Boutros had publicly suggested the charges were not based on political considerations and that his office had not communicated with DoJ headquarters, but DePodesta said those claims were false: he himself sat in on two meetings where Boutros discussed the Broadview Six with DoJ officials, including one meeting with Patel and Blanche.

During Operation Midway Blitz, ICE's intense crackdown on Chicago last year, Boutros repeatedly pressured DePodesta to launch investigations that were 'politically motivated', the suit alleges. On one occasion Boutros was 'openly hostile' when the FBI refused to write an affidavit saying a protester had 'assaulted' an officer, after video review showed only incidental touching resulting from a federal agent tackling the protester. On other occasions, Boutros emailed demands that DePodesta open FBI investigations into individuals whose political views or affiliations opposed the Trump administration.

After the case fell apart, Boutros faced 'public humiliation' and began a campaign within the DoJ to blame DePodesta, the suit says. He falsely accused DePodesta of conspiring with his sister-in-law, Nancy DePodesta, a defence lawyer who represented one of the Broadview Six defendants, to destroy the case.

DePodesta told his superiors he had not discussed the case with his sister-in-law, and senior FBI officials supported him, but they were ultimately pressured to force him out. DePodesta, who had been with the FBI since 2002, resigned in July. At the time, the FBI wrote on X: 'Anyone who is not on board with THIS FBI under the leadership of President Trump … is free to leave' — a post the lawsuit calls a 'false and defamatory explanation' of his removal.

The suit alleges defamation and violations of due process and free speech rights. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, DePodesta said: 'The American people need to know what is happening within their government … I will not let fear silence me.'

Spokespeople for the DoJ, Boutros and the FBI did not respond to requests for comment. The suit notes that only around 6% of cases brought by Boutros against anti-ICE protesters during Operation Midway Blitz have resulted in a finding of guilt — 'an unprecedented failure rate' for his office.