United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros Hosts First-of-Its-Kind All Fed-Head Summit in Chicago

Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, today assembled the highest law enforcement leadership from the entire federal apparatus in the Chicagoland region for a historic, first-of-its-kind summit to discuss collaborative efforts to oversee important federal enforcement priorities and do the people’s business.

The most senior leaders from more than 40 federal agencies operating in the Chicagoland region participated in the summit, as did nine U.S. Attorneys from the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) and other federal districts, in addition to the Head of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force.

The day-long 2026 Chicago-Area Federal Agency Leadership Summit, informally dubbed “Davos in Chicago,” began with the Presentation of Colors and then moved on to a series of presentations and panel discussions focused on six key program areas: (i) violent crime, (ii) national security, (iii) narcoterrorism, (iv) government fraud, (v) trade fraud, and (vi) quantum computing.

U.S. Attorney Boutros convened the summit to reinforce areas of collaboration and synergies among the agencies as part of a whole-of-government approach intended to strengthen the safety and security of the Northern District of Illinois, the region, as well as the public fisc.

The pioneering summit represented the first time anywhere in the country that a United States Attorney has convened and hosted a gathering of an entire region’s federal leadership.

“As the chief federal law enforcement officer of the third largest federal district in the country—and of a U.S. Attorney’s Office that is one of the most storied in our nation’s history—I have the distinct privilege and honor to lead from the front and make the Northern District of Illinois the envy of the nation when it comes to effectuating positive changes for the betterment of the people,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.

“I convened this important summit because we have reached a critical juncture in Chicago where ‘good enough’ is simply not enough. My goal in bringing together the highest-ranking officials from more than 40 federal agencies and all the U.S. Attorneys of the Seventh Circuit and others is to innovate and achieve real, positive, and transformational results both rapidly and fairly. Although the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is in constant contact with many of these partners throughout the year, a summit of this magnitude will serve as a model for other districts, while for our purposes, allows for agency and district partners to come together in one room to exchange ideas and have candid discussions about what’s working, what’s not working, where changes may be needed, and how we can best support each other for the betterment of our communities and the nation. My message to the leaders assembled today was clear: We must be intentional with our actions. We must let our actions speak for themselves. We must rise to the occasion at this moment in time. And we must stay focused, ignore distractions, work closely together, and move with purpose, intensity, accuracy, and impact in support of our public safety and law enforcement missions. The people are counting on us, and we must deliver for them.”

Today’s summit featured various panels and presentations, including three panels—comprised of Section Chiefs, office leaders, and agency heads—entitled, (i) “Government Fraud and Corruption,” (ii) “Anti-Violence Initiatives in Chicago,” and (iii) “Homeland Security Task Force, Narcotics Trafficking, and Narco-Terrorism.” Two additional panels, one led by the U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of Michigan and Southern District of Indiana, tackled the difficult topic of national security threats posed to our research institutions, while another panel led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation discussed quantum computing given Chicago’s emergence as a global quantum capital.

In addition, Cody Herche, Head of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force, presented on the Trade Fraud Task Force and its significance in the Chicagoland region, where the Northern District of Illinois has expansive venue. The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is lead prosecutorial partner on the Trade Fraud Task Force, which brings robust enforcement against importers, brokers, purchasers, industrial and commercial end-users, and other supply chain actors and parties who seek to defraud the United States or introduce non-compliant goods into the commerce of the United States.

Finally, today’s summit concluded with a special panel of United States Attorneys from throughout the Seventh Circuit, which includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. U.S. Attorney Boutros moderated this panel, which discussed district and region priorities, emerging legal issues in the Midwest, and collaborative ways for the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to address them. Also in attendance at the summit were the United States Attorneys for the Western District of Missouri and Eastern District of Arkansas.

The informal name of today’s summit—“Davos in Chicago”—draws from the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, which brings together world leaders and top businesspersons for a renowned conference each January in Davos, Switzerland.

The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office wishes to extend a special thank you to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for physically hosting today’s summit in its downtown Chicago headquarters and for the incredibly warm hospitality it extended to all those who gathered.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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