HOUSTON, United States 

FBI agents filed a class-action lawsuit against the US Department of Justice on Tuesday to stop the blacklisting of those who worked on the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot or classified documents cases against President Donald Trump.

Per Trump's request, the bureau turned over the details of nearly 6,000 FBI employees who worked on those cases, which the lawsuit states is "politically motivated retribution."

"Upon returning to the Presidency, Mr. Trump has ordered the DOJ to conduct a review and purge of FBI personnel involved in these investigations and prosecutions," said the court filing. "This directive is unlawful and retaliatory and violates the Civil Service Reform Act."

The nine FBI agents filing the lawsuit allege that acting Attorney General James McHenry and other DOJ officials are retaliating against them by distributing surveys asking about their involvement in the investigations against the president in order for them "to be terminated or to suffer other adverse employment action."

The bureau employees submitted screenshots of the survey as part of their evidence, which asked for each agent's investigative duties and title while working on special counsel Jack Smith’s since-dismissed indictments against Trump in both the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the unlawful removal of classified documents from the White House.

Trump vowed retribution against Smith during his presidential campaign, and after he was elected to his second term in the Oval Office, Smith resigned on Jan. 10 and more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on those cases were fired after Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The lawsuit goes on to state that even if the FBI agents who worked on Trump's cases are not targeted for termination, "they may face other retaliatory acts such as demotion, denial of job opportunities or denial of promotions in the future."

"Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons," the court filing continued.

The lawsuit also stated that some agents have already found their personal information being distributed on the so-called "dark web."

Trump pardoned nearly 1,500 Americans convicted of crimes related to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which briefly halted the certification of the 2020 election which was won by President Joe Biden.

In addition to the collecting of information of federal agents, the Department of Justice has also asked the US attorneys in each state to designate prosecutors who worked on the same investigations related to the president.

In a separate filing in federal court on Tuesday, the FBI's union asked for a temporary restraining order against the DOJ before it releases any names of the roughly 6,000 federal agents or workers who investigated both the Capitol riot and classified documents cases.

"FBI Special Agents who risk their lives protecting the country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized simply for doing their jobs,” Natalie Bara, the president of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association (FBIAA), said in a statement.

"Exposing the names of FBI Agents and employees on these lists would put the safety of these individuals and their families at risk," Bara said.