Three fired FBI officials have sued to get their jobs back, calling their terminations part of a “campaign of retribution” carried out by a director who caved to political pressure from the Trump administration.

Three high-ranking FBI officials were fired last month in a “campaign of retribution” carried out by a director who knew better but caved to political pressure from the Trump administration, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that describes the White House as directly meddling in the bureau’s personnel moves

The complaint says Director Kash Patel told one of the ousted agents, Brian Driscoll, that he knew it was “likely illegal” to fire agents based on cases they worked but was powerless to stop it because the White House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who investigate President Donald Trump. It quotes Patel as having told Driscoll in a conversation last month that “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it.”