The Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired one of the main career officials responsible for advising her and other senior officials of the Department of Justice on her ethical obligations, an official familiar with the dismissal confirmed to ABC News on Monday.
Joseph Tirrell took LinkedIn on Monday to publish news of his termination, including a photo of his termination notice that did not provide reasoning for his dismissal.
“Until Friday night, he was the senior prosecutor of ethics in the Department of Justice responsible for advising the attorney general and the attorney general directly over the federal employee ethics,” Tirrell said in the position. “I was also responsible for the daily operations of the ethics program throughout the department.”
The Bondi elimination letter reflects that of the letters sent to several other DOJ employees dismissed in recent weeks, including at least 20 officials who supported the former Jack Smith special advice team in his prosecutions of President Donald Trump.
Tirrell did not respond to a request for ABC News comments. A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment when ABC News contacted.
The Pugrell post described an extensive curriculum in the public service, beginning with its time as Naval Officer of the United States before joining the FBI in 2006 in several positions related to ethics.
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a cabinet meeting organized by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in the White House Cabinet Room in Washington, on July 8, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Images
In 2023 he was appointed director of the Ethics Office of the DOJ, who advises employees of the rules that govern financial dissemination, conflicts of interest and instances that demand challenge. inter alia.
It is not clear what specifically caused the dismissal of Tirrell, although several former officials pointed out that he led the office when Smith revealed, after starting in the Department of Justice, that Smith had accepted $ 140,000 in pro bono legal services as a “gift.” The dissemination pointed out that TIRRELL specifically signed the gift to comply with applicable laws and ethics regulations.
Tirrell’s dismissal also occurs in the midst of other removals of officials who worked on Smith’s team, as well as at least two more career prosecutors who worked in the investigation of the January 6 attack against the United States Capitol.
Both investigations have been under the microscope of the former interim lawyer of DCU, Ed Martin, since he joined the main justice department to lead his so -called “weapons work group.”
