Saying she was the victim of a conspiracy to attack her reputation and undermine her political career, state Rep. Dawnna Dukes has sued Travis County's top prosecutor, the American-Statesman and three former legislative aides, among others.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday by Dukes on her own behalf and without a lawyer, seeks $7.8 million for malicious prosecution and defamation.

The 12-term Austin Democrat said investigative stories by the Statesman, followed by corruption charges that were eventually dismissed, left her financially ruined — saddled with a $187,000 legal bill, deprived of consulting contracts and unable to find additional work.

As a result, her lawsuit said, Dukes' credit cards were canceled, her car was repossessed and her home and East Austin commercial properties were foreclosed upon.

"The trauma due to financial hardships and loss of reputation aggravated (Dukes') health issues and, to this day, there is still a lingering inconsolable grief caused by her substantial loss," the lawsuit said.

Dukes also blamed her legal trouble for her defeat in the Democratic primary in March.

In addition to the newspaper, Dukes sued Statesman reporter Sean Collins Walsh, author of a series of investigative stories in 2016 that exposed questionable spending by her campaign and discussed text messages that showed Dukes arranging to use state funds to pay an aide to run personal errands.

Dukes said the stories were based on false information.

But, Statesman Managing Editor John Bridges called the stories a “well-reported and important piece of accountability journalism.”

“We won’t let a challenge such as this dissuade us from continuing to investigate potential wrongdoing among our elected officials. We continue to be proud of our excellent reporting in this case that prompted law enforcement officials to investigate and take action," Bridges said.

In January 2017, a Travis County grand jury indicted Dukes on 13 felony counts of tampering with public records for collecting pay from the state in 2013 and 2014. Texas House rules require lawmakers to work at the Capitol to be paid.

Dukes also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of abuse of official capacity alleging that she used her legislative staff for personal purposes and deposited two checks into her personal bank account instead of her campaign account.

Ten months later, however, prosecutors dropped all felony charges, saying the case against Dukes collapsed when a top official in the House gave conflicting statements about the legality of receiving pay when not working at the Capitol.

Prosecutors also dismissed the two misdemeanor charges after Dukes agreed to pay $1,840 in fines and restitution to the state and to return $5,200 to her campaign account.

Dukes also sued:

• Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore and Rosemary Lehmberg, the previous district attorney, arguing they abused the judicial process by pursuing criminal charges that should never have been filed. Prosecutors, however, are generally immune from lawsuits involving prosecutions.

• An investigator with the state auditor's office, saying he withheld information about House rules that would have exonerated her "from the very beginning."

• Three former legislative aides, saying they lied to investigators about details that led to the criminal charges.

In addition to $7.8 million for personal and business losses, legal costs and mental anguish, Dukes is seeking unspecified punitive damages to serve "as an example to prevent a repetition of such conduct in the future."