The former chief of the FBI's Chicago field office said he was forced out of his job after he says he was wrongly blamed for the failed prosecution of six people who protested against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the Windy City, according to a lawsuit he filed on Monday.Douglas DePodesta sued top Justice Department officials, alleging that federal prosecutors pushed "politically motivated prosecutions" against Chicago demonstrators before gathering evidence, according to the lawsuit.He said his superiors notified him that FBI Director Kash Patel pushed for his ouster before he was forced to resign over the summer."I saw the writing on the wall," DePodesta told The Associated Press.DePodesta accused the top federal prosecutor in Illinois, U.S.
Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros, of launching a "campaign" within the DOJ to blame him after the so-called "Broadview Six" case fell apart earlier this year.TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LOST OR ABANDONED HUNDREDS OF LAWSUITS AGAINST ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS, MIGRANTS: REPORTDouglas DePodesta sued top Justice Department officials, alleging that federal prosecutors pushed "politically motivated prosecutions" against Chicago demonstrators before gathering evidence.(Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)Hours after the lawsuit was filed, U.S.
District Judge April Perry ordered Boutros and three of his assistant attorneys to testify under oath on Nov.16 in the failed "Broadview Six" case."There is more than an adequate factual basis for the Court to pursue an inquiry as to whether willful false statements were made to the court," Perry wrote in the order.Federal prosecutors brought charges against roughly 30 protesters during the federal immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, but many of those charges have since been dropped or dismissed.DePodesta’s lawsuit alleges that Boutros faced pressure from the DOJ throughout the immigration crackdown to...