Former Chicago FBI chief sues Justice Department, alleging pressure to probe Trump's opponents

Douglas DePodesta, who served as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Chicago field office from 2024 until July 2026, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against the Department of Justice (DoJ). He alleges the Trump administration pressured him to investigate the president's political opponents, then made him a "scapegoat" and unlawfully forced him out after a major federal prosecution of anti-ICE protesters fell apart. The suit offers a rare first-hand account from a senior FBI official of the administration's push to bring criminal charges against leftwing activists.

The claims

The defendants named are FBI director Kash Patel, attorney general Todd Blanche, and Andrew Boutros, the US attorney who leads the DoJ's Chicago office. DePodesta alleges Boutros pursued politically motivated prosecutions that became an "unprecedented disaster" for the department, and made intentionally false statements to a judge.

According to the complaint, during Operation Midway Blitz, the intense Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown on Chicago last year, Boutros repeatedly pressed for investigations into people holding views opposed to the administration. On one occasion the FBI declined to write an affidavit saying a protester had "assaulted" an officer, because video showed only incidental touching during a tackle by an immigration agent.

The Broadview Six case

The suit centers on the case against six activists who protested at an ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb, in September 2025. They were charged with conspiracy to impede an ICE officer. A grand jury initially rejected the charges, a very rare outcome, but prosecutors returned to it, with Boutros appearing in person, the suit says. A judge later found prosecutors had committed misconduct in the grand jury proceedings, and the case was dismissed.

DePodesta says Boutros then campaigned to blame him, falsely accusing him of conspiring with his sister-in-law Nancy DePodesta, a defense lawyer who represented one of the defendants. He also says he attended two meetings where Boutros discussed the case with DoJ officials, including one with Patel and Blanche.

DePodesta, an FBI employee since 2002, resigned in July. The FBI then posted on X that anyone not on board with the bureau under President Trump was "free to leave"; the suit calls that post false and defamatory. The complaint alleges defamation and violations of due process and free speech rights. The DoJ, Boutros and the FBI did not respond to requests for comment.