Former Chicago FBI Chief Sues Justice Department, Says He Was Forced Out After the 'Broadview Six' Case Collapsed; Judge Orders the U.S. Attorney to Testify Nov. 16

The former head of the FBI's Chicago office has sued the Justice Department, and a federal judge has ordered the region's top prosecutor to testify, Fox News reports.

The lawsuit. Douglas DePodesta filed suit Monday against top Justice Department officials. He says he was forced to resign over the summer after being wrongly blamed for the failed prosecution of six people who protested the immigration crackdown in Chicago, known as the "Broadview Six" case. He says his superiors told him FBI Director Kash Patel pushed for his removal. "I saw the writing on the wall," he told the Associated Press.

His claims. The complaint alleges U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois pushed "politically motivated prosecutions" before evidence was gathered. It says Boutros emailed DePodesta demanding FBI investigations into people for their political views or affiliations opposed to the administration, and pressed assistant U.S. attorneys to seek felony charges when they favored misdemeanors or none. It says Boutros then blamed DePodesta to "deflect attention from his own malfeasance," and told Justice Department leadership that DePodesta and his sister-in-law, an attorney for one of the six defendants, "conspired to destroy" the case. Nancy DePodesta told the AP the claim is based on "utterly false rumors."

The case itself. Boutros charged six people last October with conspiring to obstruct a federal officer, a felony, over a protest at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. Fox, citing the AP, says grand jurors twice declined to indict. Boutros dropped all charges in May as the court moved to look into possible prosecutorial misconduct. Fox reports roughly 30 protesters were charged during the Chicago operation, called Operation Midway Blitz, and many of those charges have since been dropped or dismissed.

The judge's order. Hours after the suit was filed, U.S. District Judge April Perry ordered Boutros and three of his assistants to testify under oath on Nov. 16. She wrote there is "more than an adequate factual basis" to look into whether "willful false statements were made to the court." In September, one prosecutor on the case resigned, writing that Boutros had "scapegoated and publicly vilified" her. The former defendants have asked for a special counsel.

The other side. Boutros has previously denied that politics played a role in charging decisions. Fox says it asked the Justice Department for comment.

What we could not check. We have not seen the complaint or the court order. The allegations are DePodesta's, and the Justice Department's response had not been reported.