Attorney General Pam Bondi fires top DOJ official amid wider shakeup
Attorney General Pam Bondi has dismissed Joseph Tirrell, the senior ethics attorney at the Department of Justice, as part of a broader sweep affecting officials linked to former special counsel Jack Smith.
Tirrell, who led the DOJ’s Ethics Office, announced his firing on LinkedIn, sharing a photo of his termination notice, which did not state a reason. He said he had been responsible for advising both the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General on federal ethics rules, as well as overseeing ethics programs department-wide, News.Az reports, citing ABC News.
“I was also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the ethics program across the Department,” Tirrell wrote.
His removal follows the firing of at least 20 other DOJ officials in recent weeks, many of whom were connected to Smith’s prosecution efforts against President Donald Trump. Tirrell had previously approved Smith’s acceptance of $140,000 in pro bono legal services, a post-departure disclosure that sparked internal scrutiny.
Tirrell, a former naval officer and FBI ethics advisor, had served in the DOJ since 2006 and was named director of the Ethics Office in 2023. The DOJ declined to comment on his dismissal, and Tirrell has not issued further public statements.
Bondi’s wave of firings has drawn criticism from former Justice Department officials, who warn it could erode the independence of career legal staff. The dismissals come as Ed Martin, a Trump ally, leads the DOJ’s new “Weaponization Working Group” targeting investigations perceived to be politically biased — including those into the January 6 Capitol riot.
The ongoing purge raises concerns about the future direction of the DOJ under Bondi’s leadership and the fate of ethics oversight within the department.
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