Paul Ingrassia, Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee federal whistleblower protections, has dropped out after racist text messages he sent surfaced this week.
Ingrassia, currently a White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security, was the subject of a report on Monday published in Politico. The report featured text messages where he allegedly described himself as having “a Nazi streak” and suggested Martin Luther King Jr Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell”.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday evening, Ingrassia said: “I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.
“I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again!”
After the release of the alleged text messages earlier this week, reporters asked John Thune, the Senate majority leader, if the administration should pull Ingrassia’s nomination to lead the office of special counsel. Thune said on Monday: “I think so. He’s not going to pass.”
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also said on Tuesday, prior to Ingrassia’s withdrawal, that he would not support Ingrassia’s nomination: “I’m a no. It never should have got this far. They ought to pull the nomination.”
By late afternoon on Tuesday, at least five Senate Republicans told the Washington Post they opposed Ingrassia’s nomination. Had his nomination gone to a vote, Ingrassia could have lost up to three Republican votes on the homeland security committee, which Republicans control by a single seat. Democrats were expected to vote unanimously against the confirmation.
The 30-year-old’s attorney, Edward Paltzik, questioned the authenticity of the messages to Politico and suggested they could be AI-generated. He said they were “self-deprecating” and “satirical humor”, adding that his client is “the furthest thing from a Nazi”.
Prior to the publication of the alleged texts, Ingrassia found himself in hot water after a separate Politico report from earlier this month revealed he had been investigated by the Department of Homeland Security. The investigation took place after he allegedly canceled the hotel reservation of a female colleague before a work trip and told her that they would share a room. Politico noted that the woman filed a complaint against Ingrassia and later retracted it. Ingrassia has denied any wrongdoing.
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Trump’s nomination of Ingrassia came down in June and would have seen the agency that protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices such as retaliation from whistleblowing being led by a relative novice.
Historically, the agency has been led by nonpartisan lawyers with decades of experience. Ingrassia was admitted to the New York bar last year.
Joseph Gedeon contributed reporting
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