The Daily Fuckup

Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the Justice Department’s ethics director, Joseph Tirrell, on Friday, July 11, 2025. Tirrell later said publicly on Monday, July 14, that he had been removed from the job without cause. DOJ’s own staff profile says he became director of the Departmental Ethics Office in July 2023. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/jmd/staff-profile/ethics-leadership?utm_source=openai))

The ethics office sits inside the Justice Management Division and administers the department-wide ethics program. DOJ’s ethics materials say the office handles questions involving conflicts of interest, gifts, travel, outside employment, political activities, procurement integrity, and related conduct rules. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/jmd/doj-order-1000-ethics-program?utm_source=openai))

Tirrell’s removal came as other reports on July 14 said Bondi had also pushed out more than 20 department employees connected to matters involving Donald Trump. Those dismissals were reported publicly; they were not announced in a DOJ statement laying out a single, formal purge. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2025/07/14/pam-bondi-fires-ethics-chief-doj-purge?utm_source=openai))

What is clear from the record is narrower than the rhetoric around it: Bondi removed the department’s top ethics official, and the firing landed alongside a separate round of politically charged personnel moves. What remains unconfirmed in official DOJ materials is any departmentwide written explanation tying those actions together. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/jmd/staff-profile/ethics-leadership?utm_source=openai))