FBI vetting John Lausch to be next U.S. attorney in Chicago

Federal investigators are quietly questioning associates of Chicago attorney John Lausch, who is the White House pick to be the next U.S. attorney here, the I-Team has learned.

Lausch, 46, is currently a partner at the powerhouse law firm of Kirkland and Ellis in Chicago. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago for more than eleven years and was a supervisor in the office from 2005-2010. As a federal attorney here he handled a wide range of criminal cases including Chicago police corruption, drug indictments and gun prosecutions-all of those are areas that the incoming U.S. attorney will have to tackle.

A screening committee appointed last month by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Il) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Il) will evaluate the White House choice and then send its findings to the senators.

Lausch was among several candidates for the U.S. attorney job to replace Zachary Fardon who resigned in March after a blanket request by the Trump administration for all federal prosecutors then in office to step down so they could be replaced. Numerous sources have told the I-Team that Lausch is the White House choice for nomination and we have confirmed that his was the only name sent to Senators Durbin and Duckworth and the review committee. If Illinois' senators concur, the Senate would hold a confirmation hearing on the choice.

According to Lausch's bio, he "is a Harvard graduate who earned the rare and prestigious honor of being chosen Captain of the Harvard football team as a senior." Lausch is a graduate of Joliet Catholic Academy and was named one of its outstanding alumni in 2016.

He is married and has three children.

Lausch did not respond to I-Team requests for comment.