Judge found misconduct in Broadview Six grand jury proceedings
Douglas DePodesta, who served as FBI special agent in charge from 2024 until his resignation in July 2026, filed the federal lawsuit on Monday against the Department of Justice. He alleges the department engaged in “misconduct” and “malfeasance” while pursuing what he called “unjust prosecutions,” then wrongly blamed him for its missteps and unlawfully forced him out. The complaint names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, who leads the department’s Chicago office, and alleges defamation and violations of due process and free speech rights.
DePodesta’s complaint also alleges that Boutros pursued “politically motivated prosecutions” of protesters that turned into an “unprecedented disaster” for the department and accuses the U.S. attorney of making “intentionally” false statements to a judge. It alleges that the Trump administration pressured Boutros’s office to bring charges against Kat Abughazaleh, an activist who was then running for Congress. DePodesta says he was made a “scapegoat” after the Broadview Six case fell apart and attributes the pressure to Boutros and the Trump administration.
The complaint offers a rare first-hand account from a senior former FBI official of the fallout from the Trump administration’s efforts to prosecute activists who opposed the administration during Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago in 2025, even when some law-enforcement officials opposed the charges. It alleges Boutros repeatedly pressured DePodesta to launch investigations that were “politically motivated.”
The suit centers on a federal prosecution of six activists who protested an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Broadview suburb of Chicago in September 2025. Known as the Broadview Six, the activists were charged with conspiracy to impede an ICE officer. A grand jury initially rejected the charges, an extremely rare outcome because the standard of proof is low in those proceedings and grand juries typically bring the indictments sought by the DOJ.
After grand jurors expressed skepticism about the charges after reviewing footage, prosecutors returned to the panel to continue seeking an indictment, and Boutros appeared in court to urge charges, according to the complaint. The case dragged on for months before prosecutors were forced to dismiss it after a series of missteps. A judge later found that prosecutors had engaged in misconduct in the grand jury proceedings.
At the time, Boutros told the court he was “completely unaware” of the problems, but DePodesta’s complaint says Boutros knew about the misconduct and that his statements were “intentionally false.” Boutros had publicly suggested that the charges were not based on political considerations, and his office said he had not communicated with DOJ headquarters about the case. DePodesta says those claims were false and says he attended two meetings where Boutros discussed the Broadview Six with DOJ officials, including one attended by Patel and Blanche.
On one occasion, Boutros was “openly hostile” after the FBI refused to write an affidavit saying a protester had “assaulted” an officer, according to the complaint. FBI review of video showed only “incidental touching as a result of the federal immigration agent’s tackling of the protester,” DePodesta says. On other occasions, Boutros sent DePodesta emails demanding that he open FBI investigations into individuals with political views or affiliations in opposition to the Trump administration.
After the case fell apart, Boutros faced what the lawsuit calls “public humiliation.” The complaint states: “To deflect attention from his own malfeasance, Boutros began a campaign within the Department of Justice to blame DePodesta for the unraveling of the case.” It alleges that Boutros knew the case had been dismissed because of improprieties by those under his supervision and by Boutros himself, yet repeatedly complained to superiors in Washington that DePodesta was responsible for the case’s disintegration. The suit also says Boutros falsely accused DePodesta of conspiring with his sister-in-law, Nancy DePodesta, to destroy the case. Nancy DePodesta, a defense lawyer, represented one of the Broadview Six defendants.
DePodesta told his superiors he had not discussed the case with Nancy DePodesta, and senior FBI officials supported him. The suit alleges that those officials were ultimately pressured to force DePodesta out of his position. DePodesta had been with the FBI since 2002 before resigning in July. At the time, in response to a post about his departure, the FBI wrote on X.com: “Anyone who is not on board with THIS FBI under the leadership of President Trump … is free to leave.” The lawsuit calls the post a “false and defamatory explanation of his removal.”
The legal filing says only around 6% of cases Boutros brought against anti-ICE protesters during Operation Midway Blitz resulted in a finding of guilt, calling the rate “an unprecedented failure rate” for his office. The Guardian reported: “Trump-appointed DoJ leaders across the US have faced scrutiny for pursuing weak cases that align with the president’s agenda and ultimately end in failure.”
In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, DePodesta said: “The American people need to know what is happening within their government … I will not let fear silence me.” His attorneys did not immediately respond to inquiries, and spokespeople for the Department of Justice, Boutros and the FBI did not respond.