Trib Re-Reports FOP Subpoena

Why is the Tribune covering this again?  (this is a paywalled article):

• Federal investigators issued a subpoena to the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police late last year for an FBI probe into Chicago’s FOP President John Catanzara’s financial dealings, according to a copy of the document reviewed by the Tribune.

  The subpoena, dated October 2025 and sent as part of a grand jury investigation, demands that Illinois FOP personnel turn over a slew of financial and governance records dating back to October 2020. Among the records sought were expense vouchers, reimbursement forms and receipts. The subpoena was issued from the Northern District of Illinois, although the Illinois FOP is based in Springfield.

  Catanzara — long a lightning rod for controversy who has represented the Chicago Police Department’s rank and file since May 2020 — is the only person named in the document. He took a leave of absence from his role as the first vice president of the state police union in October 2025.

The cited subpoena is nearly a year old.

Catanzara is making his usual threats:

• Reached by phone for comment Tuesday afternoon, Catanzara told the Tribune that he had not seen the subpoena issued to the state lodge, and said he had not testified to the grand jury or retained an attorney to represent him in the proceedings. He said the investigation was likely sparked by animus within the union, and added that the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 received a similar subpoena last year as well.

  “Should we ever determine the origins of this investigation that has cost this lodge membership a lot of money over nonsense and pure hatred, personally, of me — it’s based on nothing more than that — those members will be held responsible,” Catanzara said.

Yeah, John might call Florida and tell stories about retired Officers to their new employers. Or refuse to allow anyone to see the FOP credit card receipts. Or ask the Board for $50K in seed money for a charity that duplicates the work of two or three already existing charities. Or swings another 10K for a five person road trip with the food trailer to a city that doesn't have an FOP lodge.

So is something heating up? 

UPDATE: free version of the article here.