Three former senior FBI officials are suing ranking Trump administration law enforcement officials for what they describe as a political purge ordered by top law enforcement officials under pressure from Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday, Brian Driscoll, Steve Jensen, and Spencer Evans allege they were dismissed last month as part of a “campaign of retribution” carried out by Patel and Bondi. The complaint accuses both officials of knowingly violating the law to appease political demands to remove agents tied to past investigations into Trump.

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“Patel explained that he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President,” the lawsuit reads.

According to the complaint, Patel allegedly told Driscoll in private that “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it” and that removing certain agents, while “likely illegal,” was necessary to save his own job. All three plaintiffs played varying roles in previous Trump-era investigations but deny any political motivation in their work.

The former officials’ attorneys, represented by former Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell, are seeking back pay and a formal declaration that the firings were unlawful. The declaration also names the FBI, the DOJ, and the Executive Office of the President as defendants.

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The filing highlights a Fox News appearance where Patel claimed “every single person” who had “weaponized the FBI” had been removed. It also claims that there is no evidence that the plaintiffs engaged in misconduct and calls the remarks defamatory.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, was assigned to handle the case as it moves forward.