GlobaNow.Com — July 15, 2025 — Attorney General Pam Bondi has dismissed one of the Justice Department’s most senior ethics officials, Joseph Tirrell, as part of what appears to be a growing shake-up inside the agency. The firing was confirmed by a DOJ official to ABC News and follows the recent termination of at least 20 other officials tied to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into former President Donald Trump.
Tirrell, who served as the DOJ’s senior ethics attorney, announced his termination in a LinkedIn post Monday, including an image of his dismissal letter. The document provided no specific justification for his removal.
“Until Friday evening, I was the senior ethics attorney at the Department of Justice responsible for advising the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General directly on federal employee ethics,” Tirrell wrote. “I was also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the ethics program across the Department.”
Tirrell’s abrupt removal has sparked concern among current and former DOJ officials, many of whom see it as part of a larger campaign by Bondi to remove individuals associated with ethics reviews and investigations that once scrutinized Trump and his allies.
A Career in Public Ethics
Joseph Tirrell’s public service career spans nearly two decades. He began as a U.S. Naval Officer and later joined the FBI in 2006, taking on various roles focused on ethics and compliance. In 2023, he was named Director of the DOJ’s Ethics Office, overseeing guidance related to financial disclosures, conflicts of interest, and recusals for federal employees.
Tirrell did not respond to requests for comment. A DOJ spokesperson also declined to elaborate on the decision.
Ties to the Smith Investigation
Though no explicit reason was provided for Tirrell’s firing, his removal comes amid Bondi’s broader purge of officials linked to Jack Smith’s prosecutions of Trump. According to ABC News, at least 20 DOJ employees associated with Smith’s team have been dismissed in recent weeks.
Some observers believe Tirrell’s firing may be related to his role in approving a controversial ethics disclosure involving Smith. After leaving the DOJ, Smith revealed he had accepted $140,000 in pro bono legal services — a gift that Tirrell had signed off on as compliant with federal ethics rules. Critics of the former special counsel seized on the disclosure as evidence of potential conflicts of interest.
DOJ Ethics Office Under Pressure
The dismissal of Tirrell raises concerns about the independence and integrity of the DOJ’s internal ethics infrastructure. As the head of the ethics office, Tirrell played a crucial role in ensuring that department employees, including top prosecutors and political appointees, adhered to legal and ethical standards.
“This isn’t just about one person,” said a former DOJ official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “This looks like a targeted effort to dismantle the internal guardrails that keep politics from corrupting justice.”
“Weaponization” Review Escalates
The wave of terminations also comes amid heightened scrutiny from within the Justice Department itself. Ed Martin, the former interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, now leads the DOJ’s internal “Weaponization Working Group” — a controversial initiative tasked with reviewing alleged political bias within past investigations, including the Trump-related probes.
According to sources, Martin’s group has been closely examining the conduct of officials tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigation and the classified documents case — both handled in part by Smith’s team. At least two other career prosecutors from those cases have been fired in recent weeks.
Political Fallout
Attorney General Bondi’s decision to dismiss Tirrell and others is likely to fuel an already heated political debate over the direction of the Justice Department under her leadership. Critics say the firings are politically motivated and designed to eliminate voices of oversight and accountability within the department.
Supporters of Bondi argue she is restoring balance and rooting out what they call “deep-seated bias” in a Justice Department that, during prior administrations, was seen by some conservatives as hostile to Trump and his allies.
Still, the optics of firing a nonpartisan ethics official who served under multiple administrations could damage the DOJ’s credibility at a time when public trust in federal institutions remains fragile.
What’s Next?
It remains unclear who will replace Tirrell or whether Bondi intends to restructure the DOJ’s ethics oversight process. For now, his departure marks yet another flashpoint in the department’s ongoing internal upheaval.
Tirrell ended his LinkedIn post without bitterness, noting, “I remain proud of the work I did, and of the incredible public servants I had the honor of working alongside.”
But for many inside and outside the DOJ, his removal signals that the fight over the future of the department — and its independence — is far from over.
