Bondi Fires Top DOJ Ethics Adviser

Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired her personal ethics adviser, removing the Justice Department’s top official responsible for counseling the most senior political appointees, according to two people familiar with the move.

Joseph Tirrell, a career attorney who’d spent nearly 20 years at the department, received a termination letter from Bondi July 11 that didn’t state a reason for his immediate removal from federal service. Similar to notices the Trump administration has sent to dozens of other DOJ civil servants, Bondi cited Article II of the Constitution, which concerns presidential powers, the sources said.

Tirrell headed the DOJ’s ethics office. His portfolio included reviewing and approving financial disclosures, recusals, waivers to conflicts of interest, and advice on travel and gifts for Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other DOJ leaders.

He also oversaw a team of ethics staffers that provide guidance to employees in all the department’s litigating offices, law enforcement agencies, and other branches.

Reached by email Sunday, Tirrell declined to comment. He posted the termination letter — in which his first name is misspelled as “JOSPEH” — on LinkedIn on Monday morning.

Tirrell’s removal is separate—but potentially related—to the roughly 20 employees involved in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, according to numerous media reports, were also fired July 11.

Tirrell advised Smith’s office on ethics matters during his criminal prosecutions of President Donald Trump, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a sensitive personnel matter. That includes Tirrell approving Smith’s receipt of $140,000 in pro bono legal fees from Covington & Burling that he disclosed upon concluding his investigation.

Tirrell served six years as an officer in the US Navy before graduating law school from Michigan State University. He joined the FBI in 2006 before transferring to the Justice Department in 2018.

“I look forward to finding ways to continue in my personal calling of service to my country,” Tirrell said in his LinkedIn post Monday. “I encouraged anyone who is reading this to do the same.”

His ouster comes several months after Bondi removed or reassigned other career DOJ officials in charge of internal checks on the conduct of the department’s workforce. That includes, Bradley Weinsheimer, an associate deputy attorney general who made final calls on Tirrell’s ethics decisions—and Jeffrey Ragsdale, who led the professional responsibility office that investigated attorney misconduct.

The departure last month of DOJ’s longtime Inspector General Michael Horowitz also raised concerns about internal oversight going forward.

Trump dismissed in February the head of the Office of Government Ethics, an independent agency that would regularly consult with Tirrell’s team on conflicts and disclosures of political appointees.

Critics have said Bondi has politicized DOJ to advance White House priorities without regard for law enforcement standards.