WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — The Justice Department’s former top ethics adviser says senior leaders pushed back against federal gift rules and tried to keep lavish presents, including high-end cigars from UFC star Conor McGregor. He now believes that resistance played a key role in his firing.
Joseph Tirrell, the longtime director of the Justice Department’s Departmental Ethics Office, said he repeatedly clashed with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s staff over federal ethics rules. He told The New York Times that Bondi’s office wanted to keep a box of cigars McGregor had sent to the department.
Tirrell said he also dealt with questions about a soccer ball from FIFA. He pushed back, reminding Bondi’s team that federal employees cannot accept valuable gifts tied to their government positions. He said he offered clear options: pay for the items, return them, or destroy them.
According to Tirrell, those conversations became tense. He said the attorney general’s office resisted the limits, even after he briefed Bondi directly on the rules.
A Justice Department spokesperson told the Times that the soccer ball was accepted according to policy and that the cigars were destroyed after consulting ethics officials. The spokesperson said the department followed all official guidance.
But Tirrell said he faced similar pushback from the FBI. He recalled a conversation with the FBI’s general counsel, who said Director Kash Patel believed he should be able to accept more expensive gifts. Tirrell said he reminded the lawyer that “his client was not Mr. Patel, but the United States.”
Tirrell was dismissed in July. He is now one of three longtime Justice Department employees who have sued Bondi and the federal government. The plaintiffs say their firings violated federal law and the Constitution. They claim the dismissals undermined protections designed to shield career staff from political pressure.
The lawsuit also argues that the three officials—Tirrell, Michael M. Gordon, and Patricia A. Hartman—were punished for their work on the Jan. 6 prosecutions. Tirrell said he believes politics played a role. But he also suspects his refusal to bend ethics standards contributed to his removal. “In my gut, I also think they didn’t want the ethics office calling them up and telling them what to do,” he told the Times.
The controversy comes as Bondi and Patel already face heightened scrutiny. In October, reports revealed that Patel used a $60 million government jet to visit his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins. That trip raised questions about his use of government resources.
Bondi has also faced criticism. The New Yorker reported in July that she and her staff pushed back on federal gift limits. A source told the magazine that while new administrations often need time to learn the rules, the level of resistance in Bondi’s office was “not normal.”
A Justice Department spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the attorney general always follows the guidance of ethics officials. The allegations emerge amid major upheaval throughout the department. Bondi has dismissed about 20 prosecutors and support staff who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into former President Donald Trump. Those investigations focused on Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his refusal to return classified documents.
According to Justice Connection, Trump administration officials have removed roughly 200 people from the DOJ in total. Many of the ousted employees worked on cases viewed as hostile to Trump during the Biden administration.
Tirrell declined to comment further, citing his ongoing litigation. But he continues to argue that the department’s leadership pushed aside established ethics rules. The lawsuit is ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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