(Bloomberg) -- Andrew McCabe demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation disclose the policies and procedures the agency claims it complied with when it fired him as deputy director in March, 26 hours before he was to retire.

The Justice Department is withholding public information -- and breaking the law -- out of fear that McCabe will take action against the government, according to the lawsuit he filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington.

The failure to respond to McCabe’s records request under the Freedom of Information Act is “incongruous” with the department’s “public, and repeated, representations to the effect that Mr. McCabe was dismissed from the FBI following an ‘extensive and fair investigation’ which was carried out according to Department of Justice procedure,” according to the complaint.

McCabe Barred by FBI From Proving He Told the Truth, Lawyer Says

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe over the allegations he had violated the FBI and Justice Department’s policy related to disclosures to the media. McCabe has responded that he was the target of a political attack by President Donald Trump. The timing of his firing denied him full federal pension and health benefits.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.