Attorney General Pam Bondi has dismissed the Justice Department’s top ethics lawyer, Joseph Tirrell, according to a post he shared on LinkedIn.
Tirrell, a Navy veteran, posted a copy of his termination letter on the platform Friday, noting that it resembled notices received by other DOJ employees. The letter included a typo, misspelling his name as “JOSPEH.”
“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,” he wrote, in part, on LinkedIn. “I was also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the ethics program across the Department.
“I led a small, dedicated team of professionals and coordinated the work of some 30 other full-time ethics officials, attorneys, paralegals and other specialists across the Department of Justice, ensuring that the 117,000 Department employees were properly advised on and supported in how to follow the Federal employee ethics rules.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for comment via its contact form Monday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Tirrell’s dismissal comes amid turmoil at the DOJ over the Jeffrey Epstein files and Bondi’s promise to release them, before an about-face last week. She has also moved to fire those who worked with former special counsel Jack Smith on two investigations into President Donald Trump during the Biden administration.
What To Know
In his LinkedIn post, Tirrell said his public service had stretched more than a quarter-century, having worked as a U.S. Navy officer before moving to the FBI in 2006, then eventually to the DOJ. He took on his last role in July 2023 under President Joe Biden.
“I look forward to finding ways to continue in my personal calling of service to my country,” Tirrell said in his post. “I encouraged anyone who is reading this to do the same. I believe in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ I also believe that Edmund Burke is right and that ‘the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.’”
What Happened to Joseph Tirrell?
Tirrell’s position as head of the DOJ’s ethics office saw him review and approve financial disclosures, waivers to conflicts of interest, and advice on gifts and travel for Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, who is also coming under scrutiny over the Epstein files.
In the letter from Bondi, which Tirrell shared on LinkedIn, the official reason for his dismissal was given as under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the president and other members of the executive branch certain powers to remove personnel who previously had civil service protections. A more specific reason was not given.
How Many DOJ Workers Have Been Fired?
Tirrell’s dismissal comes along with about 35 other firings linked to Smith’s investigations into Trump in recent years—one focused on the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the other on the president’s handling of classified documents.
More employees could face dismissal in the coming weeks, reports suggested Monday.
USA: Department of Justice’s Ex-Ethics Lawyer Speaks Out After Being Fired by Pam Bondi
