Brian Driscoll, the former acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with two other former senior FBI officials, sued the Trump administration and FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, alleging they were dismissed for political reasons.

The three officials said in the lawsuit, filed in a Washington DC federal court, that they were fired by FBI Director Kash Patel in a "campaign of retribution" to purge officials considered disloyal to President Donald Trump.

"Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people," the lawsuit said.

In the complaint, Driscoll said that Patel told him that the firings were "likely illegal," but maintained that  he could not stop them because the White House and the Justice Department are determined to remove anyone involved in previous criminal investigations of Trump.

Purge of Trump investigators

According to the lawsuit, Patel told Driscoll in August that "the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn't forgotten it."

It alleges that Patel authorized the firings to protect his own job. It added that the fired top officials had opposed moves to remove or punish agents who had worked on investigating Trump.

Since Trump took office and tipped loyalist Patel as FBI director, concerns have grown over the integrity of the US' top law enforcement agency as officials with years of experience are either fired or step down.

Along with Driscoll, other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Steve Jensen, the former assistant director of the Washington field office, and Spencer Evans, the former top official in the Las Vegas field office.

Firings 'degrade national security'

The lawsuit specified that all three were involved in some of the FBI's most complex work, including international terrorism investigations.

Patel's decision "degraded the country's national security by firing three of the FBI's most experienced operational leaders, each of them experts in preventing terrorism and reducing violent crime," the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs seek their reinstatement, for the firings to be declared illegal, and for back pay. Along with Patel, the defendants in the lawsuit include Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse