The firing by Attorney General Bondi of the senior ethics attorney at the Department of Justice, Joseph Tirrell, underscores how she is reshaping the DOJ in President Trump’s second term. 

Mr. Tirrell, a Navy veteran who was appointed to the top ethics job in 2023, disclosed that he had been fired in a LinkedIn post. Ms. Bondi’s letter, which he posts, informs him that his “employment with the Department of Justice is hereby terminated” and that he is “removed from federal service effective immediately.” His first name is misspelled in the letter. 

The fired lawyer, who has spent some 20 years at the DOJ, vows, “My public service is not over, and my career as a Federal civil servant is not finished.” Ms. Bondi’s letter of termination cites “Article II of the Constitution and the laws of the United States,” but does not offer a more granular explanation for why Mr. Tirrell is no longer employed at Main Justice. Mr. Tirrell has the right to appeal his termination.

Mr. Tirrell’s firing comes days after Ms. Bondi gave pink slips to some 20 employees at the DOJ who were seconded to the two criminal investigations of Mr. Trump spearheaded by Special Counsel Jack Smith. That group included both prosecutors and support staff. The DOJ’s Ethics Office that Mr. Tirrell headed advises federal employees of the rules governing financial disclosures, conflicts of interest, and recusal.

Mr. Tirrell’s post explains that he was “responsible for the day-to-day operations of the ethics program across the Department” and reported directly to Ms. Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, who served as Mr. Trump’s defense lawyer in the hush money and classified documents cases. Another attorney for the 47th president, Emil Bove, who also served on Mr. Trump’s defense team in the hush money case, has been nominated to the Third United States Appeals Circuit.

Before Mr. Trump named Mr. Blanche to his high post at the DOJ, the erstwhile defense attorney locked horns with Mr. Smith, who attempted to convict Mr. Trump for both stashing secret documents at Mar-a-Lago and allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Neither case ever reached opening statements, and both were dropped once Mr. Trump regained the White House. Had Mr. Trump been tried and convicted, he could have faced a significant prison sentence. 

One reason for Mr. Tirrell’s dismissal could be connected to a disclosure Mr. Smith made on the eve of his departure from government service. On January 10 — days before he resigned and Mr. Trump swore the oath of office — the special prosecutor wrote that he accepted $150,000 worth of pro bono legal services from the law firm of Covington & Burling. Bloomberg Law reports that Mr. Tirrell approved Mr. Smith’s acceptance of those services.

The lawyer at Covington who represents Mr. Smith, Peter Koski, has since been the target of an executive order by Mr. Trump that curtails his ability — and that of his firm — to work on government matters. Covington acknowledges that it “serves as defense counsel to Jack Smith in his personal, individual capacity.” Mr. Koski’s security clearance has been suspended. The order is being challenged in court.

A regulation from 2023 appears to allow government officials to accept legal services free of charge if those services are related to “the employee’s past or current official position.” The arrangement, though, must be reported in a disclosure like the one Mr. Smith submitted and be cleared by an agency official. Mr. Tirrell advised the special counsel on ethics matters as the prosecutor was working to convict Mr. Trump.  

Ms. Bondi has made erasing Mr. Smith’s legacy a centerpiece of her tenure as attorney general. Early in her term she convened a “Weaponization Working Group” to probe the Biden administration’s investigations into Mr. Trump — its charter singles out Mr. Smith by name. While Mr. Smith and his primary deputy, Jay Bratt, resigned before Mr. Trump returned to the White House, other employees who worked with the special prosecutor have been laid off in waves. 

The administration’s ability to fire federal employees like Mr. Tirrell would appear to be bolstered by the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that assigned to the president expansive powers to shape the federal work force. While the unsigned ruling is temporary and was handed down in a case related to the Department of Education, the White House celebrated in a statement that the court has confirmed that Mr. Trump “has absolute constitutional authority to direct and manage its agencies and officers.” 

Mr. Tirrell’s post on LinkedIn declares, “I took the oath at 18 as a Midshipman to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ … That oath did not come with the caveat that I need only support the Constitution when it is easy or convenient.”