Trump nominee to lead whistleblower office drops out after racist texts surface | US politics

Paul Ingrassia, Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee federal whistleblower protections, dropped out after racist text messages he sent surfaced this week.

Ingrassia, currently the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, was the subject of a report published Monday in Politico. The report contained text messages in which he described himself as having “a Nazi leaning” and suggested that Martin Luther King Jr Day be “thrown into the seventh circle of hell.”

In an article on Truth Social Tuesday evening, Ingrassia said, “I will be withdrawing 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 I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to make America great again!” »

After the alleged text messages were released earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune was asked by reporters whether the administration should withdraw Ingrassia’s nomination to head the special counsel’s office. Thune said Monday: “I think so. It won’t pass.”

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also said Tuesday, before Ingrassia’s withdrawal, that he would not support Ingrassia’s nomination: “I’m no. It should never have gone this far. They should withdraw the nomination.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, at least five Republican senators told The Washington Post they opposed Ingrassia’s nomination. If his nomination had passed, Ingrassia could have lost as many as three Republican votes on the Homeland Security Committee, which Republicans control by just one seat. Democrats were expected to vote unanimously against this confirmation.

The 30-year-old’s lawyer, Edward Paltzik, questioned the authenticity of the messages to Politico and suggested they could be generated by AI. He called the comments “self-deprecating” and “satirical humor,” adding that his client is “the furthest thing from a Nazi.”

Before the alleged texts were released, Ingrassia found himself in a sticky situation after another Politico report earlier this month revealed that he had been the subject of a Department of Homeland Security investigation. The investigation came after he allegedly canceled a co-worker’s hotel reservation before a work trip and told her they would be sharing a room. Politico noted that the woman filed a complaint against Ingrassia and later retracted it. Ingrassia has denied any wrongdoing.

Ingrassia’s nomination by Trump fell in June and would have seen the agency that protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, such as whistleblower retaliation, be led by a relative novice.

Historically, the agency has been run by nonpartisan attorneys with decades of experience. Ingrassia was admitted to the New York bar last year.

Joseph Gedeon contributed reporting