U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has removed the Justice Department’s chief ethics lawyer, Joseph Tirrell, according to a four-sentence termination letter dated 11 July and shared by Tirrell on LinkedIn. The notice, which misspelled his name and provided no explanation, ends Tirrell’s federal service effective immediately. Tirrell had led the Departmental Ethics Office since 2023, overseeing compliance for the department’s 117,000-strong workforce and advising Bondi and other senior officials on financial disclosures, recusals and conflict-of-interest rules. Some letters sent to recently dismissed officials, including Tirrell’s, invoked Article II of the Constitution, which outlines presidential authority. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. The ouster is part of a sweeping personnel shake-up that has seen Bondi dismiss roughly 20 career employees who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into former President Donald Trump and the 6 January prosecutions. The department is also operating without permanent leadership at its Office of Professional Responsibility, raising concerns among former officials about the erosion of internal oversight. In a public statement, Tirrell—a former Navy officer and longtime FBI ethics attorney—said his public service “is not over,” stressing his commitment to constitutional duties. His departure follows mounting criticism of Bondi’s handling of high-profile matters, including the unreleased Jeffrey Epstein files, and intensifies scrutiny of the administration’s control over the Justice Department’s internal watchdog functions.