Pam Bondi Under Fire: DOJ Employee Claims He Was Sacked by the U.S. Attorney General Over Lavish Gifts — Including Cigars and a Soccer Ball

Nov. 18 2025, Published 11:08 a.m. ET The Justice Department’s top ethics advisor has claimed he was given the boot because Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel wanted to hang on to gifts that violated government ethical rules, RadarOnline.com can reveal. Joseph Tirrell, the former director of the Department of Justice’s Departmental Ethics Office, claimed some of the opulent gifts included some exceptional cigars. Gifts Conor McGregor Gave to Pam Bondi’s Staff Came Under Fire Mixed-martial-art star Conor McGregor gifted the cigars to Bondi’s staff. Tirrell shared he had to push back hard against the staff to encourage them to give them back. “We got a request about some cigars from Conor McGregor and a soccer ball from FIFA,” he shared with a news outlet. “And I felt like I really had to go to the mattress to convince the A.G.’s office: You can pay for the item or you can return the item or you can throw the item away. There’s no other way to do this.” McGregor had been found liable for sexual assault in a civil case and, while he attempted to appeal it, he was not successful. He was allegedly scheduled to appear in a White House UFC match to take place in July. He had purportedly been in negotiations directly with the White House, noting he’d requested $100Million and 100 “Golden Visas” to compete in the event. Pam Bondi’s Office Allegedly Didn’t Want to ‘Return Gifts’ and ‘Not Accept Gifts,’ Joseph Tirrell Claimed Tirrell went on to clarify that federal employees are “restricted from accepting gifts from anyone” due to their position. “I briefed Ms. Bondi about the ethics rules, and we talked about accepting gifts from employees in the department—for the most part, leaders can’t accept gifts from their subordinates,” he revealed. “But that started to be a recurring theme with the A.G.’s office. They didn’t want to return gifts, they didn’t want to not accept gifts, whatever the source.” A Justice Department spokesperson responded to Tirrell’s allegations, sharing a soccer ball was accepted, but the cigars were destroyed after they were advised by ethics officials. Kash Patel Allegedly Felt Like ‘He Should Be Able to Accept More Expensive Gifts’ Tirrell went on to make an allegation against Patel, saying he had gotten a call from the FBI’s general counsel in which they claimed Patel felt like “he should be able to accept more expensive gifts.” “I reminded [the counsel] that his client was not Mr. Patel, but the United States,” Tirrell detailed. The former Ethics Office director is one of three Justice Department officials who filed a lawsuit against Bondi and the U.S. government, alleging they were abruptly and unlawfully let go from their positions due to their work on the January 6 prosecutions. In the suit, the trio allege their firings violated federal law, the Constitution, and long-standing protections designed to prevent political interference with civil servants Kash Patel and Pam Bondi Were Previously Scrutinized Tirrell noted he thinks he was let go for another reason aside from January 6, though. “In my gut, I also think they didn’t want the ethics office calling them up and telling them what to do,” he alleged. The former Ethics Office director isn’t the only one who has criticized Patel and Bondi in regard to their spending/gifts. Patel was scrutinized in October for taking a $60Million government jet to visit his girlfriend, while Bondi and her staff came under fire in a report in July that alleged they were trying to push back on rules that limited federal gifts.
https://radaronline.com/p/pam-bondi-doj-employee-fired-allegedly-over-lavish-gifts/

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