U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is under fire again for what many are calling a “shady” decision aimed at protecting herself from scrutiny.
On Monday, the Justice Department’s senior ethics attorney, Joseph Tirrell, revealed that Bondi had fired him. He shared the letter she sent him on Friday, which didn’t provide any reason for his dismissal but gave him the option to appeal.
Tirrell explained in his LinkedIn post that his job was to advise the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General on ethics matters. He also led a team of 30 people ensuring the Justice Department’s staff followed ethical guidelines.
Tirrell has decades of experience in public service, starting as a U.S. Naval officer before earning his law degree and working for the FBI. He had been leading the DOJ’s ethics office since 2023.
Bondi’s office has not commented on the firing.
ABC News, which first reported on the firing, noted that Tirrell had been overseeing ethics during a time when former special counsel Jack Smith disclosed that he had accepted a $140,000 gift in the form of pro bono legal services. Tirrell signed off on that transaction.
Tirrell’s firing is just one in a series of staff cuts last week. Axios reported that 20 DOJ employees were let go on Friday, with 37 more reportedly set to be dismissed. These firings are linked to Bondi’s “Weaponization Working Group,” an initiative she launched to target and remove officials seen as political opponents of President Donald Trump.
This move by Bondi comes at a time when the Justice Department is facing backlash from Trump supporters, particularly after announcing it would close the Jeffrey Epstein case without releasing more files.
