Special Agent in Charge of FBI Chicago field office pushed to retire

(CNN) — Douglas S. DePodesta, the special agent in charge of the FBI Chicago field office, was pushed to retire after disagreements with the local US Attorney Andrew Boutros, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Several people familiar with the retirement told CNN they didn’t believe one single dispute lead to the departure, but rather a series of them.

DePodesta planned to begin clearing out his office on Wednesday, according to one of the sources.

None of the people about DePodesta’s retirement were authorized to speak to the media.

The Justice Department referred questions to the FBI. The FBI declined to comment.

CNN attempted to reach DePodesta for comment.

In 2024, former FBI director Christopher Wray named DePodesta as the special agent in charge in Chicago. He previously served as the interim special agent in charge of the Memphis Field Office in Tennessee. He joined the FBI in 2002.

The retirement comes as Boutros has found himself under a national spotlight and has made frequent media appearances, including with Justice Department officials in Washington, DC.

The US attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois recently had to drop three cases after problems with grand jury presentations. Boutros, the Trump-appointed and judge-endorsed US attorney, launched a review of more than 100 transcripts of confidential grand jury sessions, putting a close eye on cases that have been charged in the last year.

Boutros said he decided to drop the criminal cases — which alleged Covid fraud, yearsold arson, and politically charged cases against ICE protestors — because of one lower-level prosecutor’s work on them.

His office is also involved in a Justice Department investigation related to E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against Trump.

The probe focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury in connection to the lawsuits and looks into billionaire Reid Hoffman’s funding of the litigation.

This story is developing and will be updated.

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