Federal crime in the United States

Douglas DePodesta, former special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago field office, has sued Justice Department officials, alleging he was forced to resign in July after resisting "politically motivated" investigations of protesters opposing the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, known as "Operation Midway Blitz." He claims U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros tried to blame him for the collapse of the "Broadview Six" case, which fell apart after prosecutors allegedly improperly influenced a grand jury; related charges were later dropped, rejected, or ended in acquittal. The suit names Boutros, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel, seeking reinstatement and back pay.

Separately, U.S. District Judge April Perry has ordered Boutros and three of his prosecutors to testify under oath on Nov. 16 as she considers appointing a special prosecutor to probe alleged grand jury misconduct in the Broadview Six case. Perry called Boutros' claims of ignorance about the misconduct "hard to credit." The Justice Department has refused to turn over requested communications related to the case.

The U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to 57 of California's 58 counties demanding officials help verify the citizenship status of voters flagged on a federal list of roughly 20,000 names, threatening potential criminal prosecution for tabulating ballots from noncitizens. San Diego County, given 48 hours to respond regarding 1,709 flagged voters, said it is "evaluating next steps" rather than committing to the request. The move follows a DOJ lawsuit against Los Angeles County and the Secretary of State after they declined to set aside the flagged ballots. California officials call the list error-ridden and the effort election interference, while critics say it may violate a federal "quiet period" rule barring systematic voter list reviews before elections.

The Trump administration has warned California election officials that processing ballots cast by suspected noncitizen voters could expose them to criminal investigation and prosecution. A letter from acting deputy attorney general Trent McCotter called noncitizen voting a federal crime and said officials who knowingly facilitate it risk being treated as aiders and abettors. The DOJ sued California after it missed a 48-hour deadline to cross-check a federal list of roughly 20,000 flagged names; federal prosecutors have since charged 28 green-card holders across California, 11 arrested, saying all appeared on that list. Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the demand unprecedented and said officials provided too little information to verify names. Governor Newsom calls the suit voter suppression; the dispute looms over competitive California House races in the midterms.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina is pursuing denaturalization and fraud cases against four men, citing false statements made during naturalization proceedings. A federal grand jury indicted Sha Bahadur Ghaley, a Bhutanese-born naturalized citizen, on naturalization fraud charges after he allegedly lied about prior criminal conduct on his 2017 application; he was later convicted in 2024 of sexually abusing a child and sentenced to prison and lifetime sex-offender registration. He faces up to 10 additional years if convicted of fraud.

Separately, between June and August, prosecutors filed civil denaturalization complaints against three men — Benjamin Hernandez (also known as Luis Elder Alvarado), Han Xiong Chen, and Kevin Yun-Sang Kim — alleging each concealed prior deportations, false identities, or immigration violations to obtain citizenship. Officials say the cases stem partly from a new fingerprint-comparison method used to detect identity fraud in past naturalization applications. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said such fraud takes citizenship opportunities from eligible applicants and pledged continued enforcement.