The top federal law enforcement position in northern Illinois may be filled soon. A nominee to be the permanent U.S. attorney for the region will soon be announced, two years after the city last had one.
The top federal law enforcement position in northern Illinois has been vacant for two years, but NBC 5 Investigates has been told by several sources that Andrew Boutros will be tapped to become the Chicago district's next U.S. Attorney.
NBC Chicago learned on Monday that Boutros will soon be announced, two years after John Lausch stepped down and former President Joe Biden was unable to get a replacement confirmed thanks to now-Vice President J.D. Vance, who at the time put dozens of confirmations on hold in the Senate.
A Capitol Hill source familiar with the nomination told NBC Chicago that an official announcement of Boutros’ selection could come as early as Tuesday. Peoria Republican Rep. Darin LaHood, who oversaw the search, is expected to make a public announcement but is waiting for a green light from The White House, sources said.
"The law has always been complicated and complex; but the world in which we live in I think has gotten more complicated with the passage of time and with technology..." Boutros said in a 2022 video presentation for the law firm where he was employed at the time, overseeing White Collar criminal defense cases.
He is now in with the law firm of Shook, Hardy and Bacon, with offices in Chicago and Washington DC. Boutros handles government investigations in the capital.
Legal sources tell NBC Chicago that Boutros will soon be named by the Justice Department in Washington as the new interim U.S. Attorney in Chicago, and will be a nominee for the permanent role, requiring the approval of the Senate.
Chicago has been without a permanent U.S. Attorney since March 2023 when Lausch stepped down.
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Former President Joe Biden's nominee for the Chicago job was stalled in the Senate, one of dozens of confirmations blocked by Vance.
Once formally nominated and confirmed, Boutros would oversee an office of more than 150 prosecutors in Chicago and Rockford. Boutros worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney for eight years beginning in 2007, prosecuting the world's largest online drug trafficker on the dark web as part of the investigation into "Silk Road."
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Boutros' prosecution work in what was described as “the largest food fraud in U.S. history” landed him a starring role in a documentary entitled “Rotten.”
Legal sources tonight tell NBC Chicago that Boutros wasn't on the original list of three names that LaHood sent to the White House. Apparently, Trump rejected those three in his favor.
There was no comment on Monday from Boutros, and NBC 5 Investigates received no reply from LaHood's office or Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking member.
