Douglas DePodesta, the former FBI special agent in charge in Chicago, has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Justice Department of pressuring him to investigate political opponents of President Donald Trump and making him a scapegoat after a case against anti-ICE protesters collapsed. He says he was wrongly blamed for the department’s actions and unlawfully forced out of his position.
DePodesta led the Chicago FBI office from 2024 until July 2026. The lawsuit names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Andrew Boutros, the US attorney in Chicago. It alleges misconduct and politically motivated prosecutions, including claims that Boutros made false statements to a judge.
The complaint says Boutros pressed DePodesta during Operation Midway Blitz, an immigration crackdown in Chicago, to open investigations that DePodesta considered politically motivated. In one instance, it alleges, Boutros reacted with hostility after the FBI declined to describe a protester’s actions as an assault on an officer. The FBI’s review of video, according to the suit, showed incidental contact after an immigration agent tackled the protester. DePodesta also alleges that Boutros emailed him demanding investigations into people with views or affiliations opposed to the administration.
The lawsuit focuses on the prosecution of six activists, known as the Broadview Six, who protested at an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview in September 2025. They were charged with conspiring to impede an ICE officer. Prosecutors later dismissed the case after a series of setbacks, including a grand jury’s initial rejection of the charges. The complaint says prosecutors returned to the grand jury despite jurors’ doubts and that Boutros appeared in court to urge charges.
DePodesta disputes Boutros’s public suggestion that the case was not politically motivated and that he had not discussed it with Justice Department headquarters. The lawsuit says DePodesta attended two meetings where Boutros discussed the case with department officials, including one with Patel and Blanche. It also alleges the Chicago prosecutor’s office faced pressure to charge Kat Abughazaleh, an activist who was running for Congress.
A judge later found that prosecutors had committed misconduct during grand jury proceedings. Boutros told the court he was unaware of the problems, but DePodesta’s suit alleges that he knew about them and intentionally misrepresented his knowledge. It further claims Boutros blamed DePodesta for the case’s failure, including by accusing him of conspiring with his sister-in-law, defense lawyer Nancy DePodesta, who represented one of the defendants. DePodesta denies discussing the case with her, and the complaint says senior FBI officials supported him before he was pressured to leave.
DePodesta, who joined the FBI in 2002, resigned in July. The lawsuit also challenges an FBI post on X responding to his departure, which said that anyone unwilling to support the bureau under Trump’s leadership was free to leave. DePodesta describes the post as a false and defamatory explanation of his removal. His claims include defamation and violations of his due process and free speech rights.
In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, DePodesta said the public should know what is happening inside the government and that he would not let fear silence him. His attorneys did not immediately respond to inquiries. The Justice Department, Boutros and the FBI also did not respond to requests for comment.
Sources: The Guardian World.