The White House has exerted extraordinary influence over decisions at the F.B.I., issuing political loyalty tests and directly ordering the firings of agents targeted by President Trump and his allies, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by three former bureau officials who accused the administration of illegally dismissing them.
The sprawling suit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, provides a disturbing account of what it describes as efforts by Mr. Trump’s top aides to strip the bureau of its century-long history of independence. It paints an unflattering portrait of the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, as a middleman executing the orders of top Justice Department and White House officials, including Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser.
The former officials who brought the suit — Brian J. Driscoll Jr., Steven J. Jensen and Spencer L. Evans — once occupied senior positions in the F.B.I. They accused Mr. Patel of dismissing them as part of “a campaign of retribution” for their “failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.”