Douglas DePodesta sues Justice Department over ouster from FBI Chicago

Douglas DePodesta filed a lawsuit on Monday against top Justice Department officials, claiming he was forced from his role as head of the FBI’s Chicago field office because of a failed prosecution. DePodesta, a 24-year veteran of the agency, argues that federal prosecutors pursued politically motivated cases against local demonstrators before collecting necessary evidence. He says his superiors informed him that FBI Director Kash Patel wanted him removed, prompting his resignation earlier this summer. "I saw the writing on the wall," DePodesta told The Associated Press.

The legal action centers on the collapse of charges against six people known as the Broadview Six. These individuals were arrested during Operation Midway Blitz, a federal immigration enforcement operation in Chicago. Federal prosecutors originally charged about 30 people during that crackdown, but many of those cases have since been dropped or dismissed. The lawsuit accuses Andrew Boutros, the top federal prosecutor in Illinois, of launching a campaign to shift blame to DePodesta after the Broadview Six case fell apart.

Boutros' office declined to comment on the suit. The FBI and the Justice Department, both named in the filing, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DePodesta’s attorneys state that Boutros pressured his staff to file felony charges against protesters, often before investigating objective evidence. They allege that Boutros sent emails demanding DePodesta open FBI investigations into individuals with political views opposed to the Trump administration. The suit further claims that Boutros preferred felony charges even when his attorneys favored misdemeanors or no charges at all.

In October of last year, the office charged the six Broadview protesters with conspiring to obstruct a federal officer, a felony count. Court transcripts later revealed that a grand jury twice refused to indict the group despite prosecutors' urging. Boutros gave a highly unusual speech to the jurors before the second refusal. He dropped all charges in May as the court moved to investigate possible prosecutorial misconduct. DePodesta’s lawyers wrote that Boutros complained to Washington superiors that DePodesta caused the failure to deflect attention from his own actions.

DePodesta denied these accusations to his FBI superiors. The suit states they conceded he was being forced out due to the political pressure created by Boutros. The lawsuit also alleges that Boutros told Justice Department leadership that DePodesta and his sister-in-law, attorney Nancy DePodesta, conspired to destroy the case. Nancy DePodesta represents Michael Rabbitt, one of the former defendants. She confirmed to the AP that she is DePodesta's sister-in-law.

"There is no one at the FBI who took their oath of office and their ethical and moral responsibilities more seriously than Doug," Nancy DePodesta said in a statement. "It is both heartbreaking and shameful that he was forced out of his position based on what appear to be utterly false rumors spread by" Boutros, she added.

A prosecutor on the Broadview Six case resigned in late September, writing in a letter that Boutros scapegoated and publicly vilified her. She filed a motion to be treated as an independent party. The former defendants have asked U.S. District Judge April Perry to appoint a special counsel to examine prosecutorial misconduct. At an October 1 hearing, Perry ordered further fact-finding regarding communications between Boutros' office and Justice Department leadership.