Former FBI Chicago Chief Sues Justice Department: Says He Was Scapegoated Over the Failed Broadview Six Case
In Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, Douglas DePodesta, the former head of the FBI's Chicago field office, sued top Justice Department officials in federal court on November 2, saying he was forced out and made a scapegoat for the collapse of the Broadview Six case. DePodesta, a 24-year FBI veteran, led the Chicago office from 2024 until July 2026.
The suit alleges that federal prosecutors pushed politically motivated prosecutions of Chicago demonstrators before gathering evidence, that his superiors told him FBI Director Kash Patel wanted him fired, and that he stepped down against his will this summer. It names Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and Andrew Boutros, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and says Boutros launched a campaign to blame him after the Broadview case fell apart. The Justice Department and the FBI, also named, did not immediately comment.
At the center of the case are six protesters charged with conspiring to impede a federal officer during a September 2025 protest outside an immigration enforcement facility in suburban Broadview; prosecutors dropped all charges in May as a court looked into possible prosecutorial misconduct.
(Source: Associated Press)
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：芝加哥Dirksen联邦法院大楼。Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. By Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
