SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
not above the law coalition
'More Corruption and Abuse' on the Way as Bondi Fires DOJ Ethics Chief
"The question this drastic firing raises is: Are there even worse ethics problems Bondi is trying to hide?" said one watchdog campaigner.
Jul 15, 2025
Further escalating concerns over U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's control of the Department of Justice, Joseph Tirrell announced Monday on a professional networking website that he was fired as director of the Departmental Ethics Office.
Tirrell shared Bondi's July 11 memo, which misspells his first name and provides no explanation for his dismissal from the DOJ. It states that "pursuant to Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States, your employment with the Department of Justice is hereby terminated, and you are removed from federal service effective immediately."
Democracy Docket reporter Jacob Knutson noted that "Trump officials have repeatedly referenced Article II to make broad assertions of presidential authority and to justify dismissing federal workers who traditionally have been shielded by civil service protections."
Tirrell wrote in his LinkedIn post that "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."
Bloomberg had reported on Tirrell's ouster Sunday, and both he and the DOJ had declined to comment. The outlet pointed out that "his portfolio included reviewing and approving financial disclosures, recusals, waivers to conflicts of interest, and advice on travel and gifts for Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other DOJ leaders."
Jon Golinger, democracy advocate at the government watchdog Public Citizen, said in a Monday statement that "Bondi's sudden firing of the DOJ ethics adviser shines a bright spotlight back on her own glaring ethical conflicts and how she's handled major DOJ decisions involving her former clients like Qatar and Pfizer."
According to Golinger, "The question this drastic firing raises is: Are there even worse ethics problems Bondi is trying to hide?"
As Bloomberg also detailed:
Tirrell's removal is separate—but potentially related—to the roughly 20 employees involved in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations, according to numerous media reports, were also fired July 11.
Tirrell advised Smith's office on ethics matters during his criminal prosecutions of President Donald Trump, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a sensitive personnel matter. That includes Tirrell approving Smith's receipt of $140,000 in pro bono legal fees from Covington & Burling that he disclosed upon concluding his investigation.
The Not Above the Law coalition's co-chairs—Brett Edkins of Stand Up America, Praveen Fernandes of the Constitutional Accountability Center, Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen, and Kelsey Herbert of MoveOn—said in a Monday statement that "by firing her ethics chief, Pam Bondi is making it clear she answers to Trump and no one else."
"This is the latest move in an alarming pattern of dismantling oversight and erasing accountability from the Department of Justice. Bondi is purging anyone who dares act as a check on executive power to pave the way for more corruption and abuse," the co-chairs continued. "Bondi may be the one who made this latest call, but this administration's culture of corruption starts at the top."
They added that "whether it's using the presidential bully pulpit to raise allies' stock prices, giving special access to Trump meme coin investors, or firing 17 agency inspectors general to stymie government oversight, Trump seems to have perfected the art of using public office for personal profit, and he, Bondi, and everyone else are ensuring that nobody dares lift a finger to stop them."
Under Trump and Bondi, thousands of employees have left the DOJ. CBS News reported last month that the department lost 4,000 workers as part of the Trump administration's "fork in the road" deferred resignation program, and Reuters revealed Monday that 69 of the roughly 110 lawyers in the Federal Programs Branch—which defends the president's policies in court—have quit the unit or announced plans to resign since his November election.
Bondi has been accused of "serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice," including with her day-one memo directing all DOJ employees to "zealously defend" Trump's policies, and has recently faced sharp criticism for the department's handling of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a clear sign of congressional Republicans' unwillingness to hold the Trump administration accountable, GOP members of the U.S. House Rules Committee late Monday blocked an amendment that would have forced the DOJ to release the full Epstein files to the public.
Groups Say Trump Trial Juries Must Be Protected From Right-Wing Threats
"Self-serving assaults on institutions and individuals are what Trump and his enablers do."
Oct 02, 2023
As former U.S. President Donald Trumpappeared in New York Supreme Court on Monday for the beginning of a civil fraud trial, over 30 advocacy organizations released a letter stressing the need to protect juries in his four ongoing criminal cases.
Trump faces a total of 91 felony charges: four in the federal 2020 election case; 40 in the federal classified documents case; 34 in the New York case that stems from alleged hush money payments during the 2016 cycle; and 13 in the Georgia election case.
"Jurors—past, present, and future—are under attack from Donald Trump and those who do his bidding," states the groups' letter, which came just hours after the 2024 Republican front-runner's social media tirade about the civil case that will be decided by a judge.
"Self-serving assaults on institutions and individuals are what Trump and his enablers do," the letter argues. "These attacks threaten centuries-old American institutions designed by the Framers to hold to account any leader who would be king."
The letter highlights that in early August, after a Washington, D.C. grand jury indicted Trump, he wrote on social media, "If you go after me, I will come after you."
A few days later, he said, "No way I can get a fair trial, or even close to a fair trial, in Washington, D.C." The letter says that "it's hard to miss the import of this message in a jurisdiction that draws its jury pool from a population of which 45% are Black Americans."
As
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution—which exclusively reported on the new letter—noted:
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has sought increased protections after Trump supporters posted personal details about the grand jury that indicted the former president, leading to angry threats and harassment.
And Willis, herself, said she's been targeted by threats and racial slurs, forcing her to take steps to protect her daughters, father, and ex-husband.
Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee recently banned reporters and the public from identifying jurors in the trial against Trump and 18 co-defendants or disclosing other personal details about them. He also required lawyers to refer to them only as their numbers in court.
In addition to detailing examples of the ex-president and his allies' recent attacks on juries, the letter points out that Trump claimed the 2016 and 2020 elections would be "rigged" against him, and after his loss last cycle, he spread the "Big Lie" that he won and "successfully eroded faith in democracy and elections among his followers."
"Trump is now deploying the same, pre-judgment playbook upon the jurors and system of justice positioned to decide his fate in criminal court," asserts the letter. "His attacks are designed to eviscerate an institution of justice inherited from English law and in existence in America before the Constitution that enshrined it. Juries protect individual freedom."
"Trump, by undermining institutions that check both government power and lawless individuals, aims to release himself from all constraints. For this reason, his vicious attacks on juries are sure to escalate," the letter warns, concluding with a call for all "who believe in the rule of law and the jury system" to "speak up and defend such institutions under attack."
The letter was organized by the Not Above the Law coalition. Signatories include Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause, Free Speech for People, Government Accountability Project, Indivisible, People for the American Way, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and Stand Up America.
Most Popular
We cover the issues the corporate media never will.
Please support our journalism.