Former FBI agents allege they were illegally fired for having worked on an investigation that led to President Donald Trump’s indictment in the 2020 election interference case.

In a new lawsuit filed Thursday in Washington, two ex-agents said their constitutional rights were violated by “improper acts of political retribution.”

The civil suit, brought by plaintiffs proceeding under pseudonyms (John Does 1 and 2), names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and the Justice Department as defendants. 

It’s the latest legal response to the second Trump administration’s revenge campaign, which has included firing people who did their jobs probing potential crimes that happened to include the actions of the once and future president. 

“Based merely on Plaintiffs’ involvement in an investigation implicating then-former President Trump initiated during the Biden Administration, Defendant Kash Patel, Defendant Pamela J. Bondi, and elected officials with whom they acted in concert perceived Plaintiffs to be politically disloyal to President Trump and therefore targeted Plaintiffs for removal,” the former agents alleged in their complaint. 

They said their firings were illegal because they were based on the perception that they weren’t Trump supporters.

They’re seeking a court declaration that their rights were violated, as well as immediate reinstatement with protection from further action against them without due process. They said they were fired without evidence, notice or the opportunity for a hearing. 

The government defendants will have an opportunity to respond in court.

The election interference case was one of two federal prosecutions brought against Trump. The DOJ stopped pursuing both cases after his 2024 election win, due to the department’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. 

Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro,” a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.