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Who is Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s whistle-blower office pick, forced to quit over racist comments?
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Who is Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s whistle-blower office pick, forced to quit over racist comments?

FP Explainers • October 22, 2025, 15:41:53 IST
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US President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, has withdrawn after racist and inflammatory texts surfaced. Ingrassia had previously mocked MLK Jr Day, described himself as having a ‘Nazi streak’, and disparaged other Black culture holidays

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Who is Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s whistle-blower office pick, forced to quit over racist comments?
Paul Ingrassia arrives before Trump speaks during a summer soiree on the South Lawn of the White House, June 4, 2025, in Washington, DC, US. File Image/AP

United States President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead a federal watchdog agency has withdrawn his name following the publication of racist and inflammatory text messages that prompted swift backlash from senators of his own party.

Paul Ingrassia, a 30-year-old attorney and political commentator who has been serving as a White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, had been nominated in May to head the Office of Special Counsel — an independent investigative body tasked with protecting whistleblowers and enforcing political activity restrictions for federal employees.

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His nomination, however, collapsed this week after a Politico report detailed a series of offensive text messages attributed to him, setting off one of the rare moments when Republican lawmakers directly opposed a Trump nominee.

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The incident has placed a spotlight on the controversial figure, whose rapid rise in the Trump administration mirrored the president’s own populist approach to governance.

What led to Ingrassia’s sudden withdrawal?

Ingrassia’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) had been scheduled for later this week.

But on Tuesday evening, he announced that he would be pulling out of consideration, citing an absence of sufficient Republican support after the texts became public.

“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,” Ingrassia wrote in a post shared online.

“I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout the process and will continue to serve President Trump and the administration to Make America Great Again!”

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The White House confirmed the withdrawal shortly after, stating only that “he is no longer the nominee.”

The decision followed a wave of condemnation from Republican senators, including several long-standing Trump allies, who publicly declared their opposition to confirming him.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that he had urged the White House to withdraw Ingrassia’s nomination, noting to reporters that “he’s not going to pass.”

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Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who sits on the committee responsible for vetting the nomination, told reporters, “I’m a no… It never should have got this far.”

Florida Senator Rick Scott also made clear he would not support the nomination.

What was behind Ingrassia’s removal?

The controversy originated from Politico’s reporting on a private text chat between Ingrassia and a group of Republican operatives and social media influencers in early 2024.

In those messages, Ingrassia allegedly mocked the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, writing that it should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.”

He also described himself as having “a Nazi streak” at times.

According to Politico, Ingrassia had also expressed the view that “every single one” of several holidays related to Black history and culture “needs to be eviscerated,” using an Italian slur for Black people.

The messages named multiple observances, including Kwanzaa, Black History Month, and Juneteenth.

In another exchange in February 2024, Politico reported that Ingrassia wrote, “We need competent white men in positions of leadership. … The founding fathers were wrong that all men are created equal … We need to reject that part of our heritage.”

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The report said that Politico obtained the text chain and verified the content with two people who had participated in the chat. The messages, once publicised, led to immediate condemnation across party lines.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the messages “foul and disqualifying” and demanded that the administration not only drop the nomination but also terminate Ingrassia from his existing White House position.

“This isn’t anywhere near enough,” Schumer said on social media, referring to the withdrawal.

Ingrassia’s attorney, Edward Andrew Paltzik, disputed the authenticity and interpretation of the messages, claiming that they may have been manipulated and, if genuine, were meant as “self-deprecating and satirical humour.”

How has Trump supported Ingrassia?

Trump had described Ingrassia earlier this year as a “highly respected attorney, writer and Constitutional Scholar.”

The president nominated him in May to head the Office of Special Counsel, which plays a vital role in protecting federal whistleblowers and investigating retaliation against government employees who report misconduct.

The office also enforces the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activities by federal workers.

Ingrassia’s selection reflected Trump’s broader approach to reshaping oversight institutions with loyalists who share his scepticism of the traditional federal bureaucracy.

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Similar appointments in other agencies have drawn controversy, as the administration has worked to consolidate power and reorient executive branch oversight toward political alignment.

Who is Paul Ingrassia?

Paul J Ingrassia was born on May 13, 1995, in Bayport, New York. He attended Bayport-Blue Point High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Fordham University.

He later graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022, where he served as the senior online editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy.

While studying law, Ingrassia was involved in conservative student circles and wrote for right-leaning outlets such as The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit.

He was twice named a fellow at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank known for its advocacy of traditionalist and nationalist perspectives within the Republican Party.

After law school, he worked for attorney Joseph D. McBride, a New York-based lawyer known for representing clients charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot.

By mid-2024, Ingrassia was admitted to the New York Bar and took a leading communications role at the National Constitutional Law Union, an organisation describing itself as a counterweight to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

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Ingrassia also gained prominence as a conservative commentator.

Between 2018 and 2020, he co-hosted a podcast titled Right on Point with his sister, Olivia, where they discussed topics rooted in American conservatism and often praised figures such as William F Buckley Jr and Russell Kirk.

He later built an online following through his Substack newsletter, which he branded as “President Trump’s favorite Substack.” Trump repeatedly shared his posts on social media and echoed his commentary.

In January 2024, Ingrassia published a false claim alleging that former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley was constitutionally ineligible to serve as president because her parents were immigrants — a statement that Trump himself later repeated.

This relationship with the US president reportedly bolstered Ingrassia’s standing among Trump’s inner circle, paving the way for his entry into the administration during Trump’s second term.

What has Ingrassia’s role been in the Trump administration?

In January, Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, appointed Ingrassia as the White House liaison to the Department of Justice (DOJ). His role involved coordinating personnel and policy communication between the DOJ and the White House.

However, his tenure there was short-lived. Within weeks, a dispute reportedly broke out between Ingrassia and Chad Mizelle, chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, over staffing and loyalty-related issues.

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According to accounts later reported by ABC News and Politico, Ingrassia had pressed for the dismissal of DOJ employees who had served under former attorneys general Merrick Garland or William Barr, citing concerns about political loyalty.

After tensions escalated, he was reassigned in February to serve as liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

During this period, Ingrassia’s influence within the administration appeared to grow. He was reportedly involved in discussions about personnel appointments and policies aligned with Trump’s broader agenda to remake federal agencies around loyalty to the president’s political movement.

By May, the White House announced Ingrassia’s nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel.

His relatively young age and limited executive experience drew some early criticism, but the administration defended his credentials, citing his legal background and his understanding of constitutional issues.

Did Ingrassia sexually harass a colleague?

Before the text message controversy broke, Politico had reported another sensitive issue involving Ingrassia.

Earlier this month, the outlet revealed that he had been the subject of an internal investigation by DHS following allegations that he had sexually harassed a junior female colleague during a business trip to Orlando, Florida, in July.

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According to the report, Ingrassia allegedly arranged for the woman’s hotel reservation to be cancelled so she would have to share his room.

She filed a complaint with the department’s human resources office but later retracted it, reportedly out of fear of retaliation. Two officials told Politico that they had been interviewed in September by the DHS inspector general as part of the inquiry.

Ingrassia’s attorney denied all allegations, stating that a review by the department’s human resources division “found no misconduct.”

The woman later released a statement saying she had “never felt uncomfortable” and that the allegations were “not true.”

Nonetheless, Politico reported that Ingrassia’s federal security badge and access to DHS headquarters had been temporarily suspended for several days during the investigation.

Why is Ingrassia’s dismissal a rare case?

Ingrassia’s withdrawal marks one of the few times during Trump’s second term that Senate Republicans have collectively resisted a presidential nominee.

The chamber, currently controlled 53-47 by the GOP, has generally advanced Trump’s nominations with little pushback. Still, a handful of prior cases show occasional limits to that loyalty.

Earlier in the administration, Matt Gaetz withdrew as Trump’s first nominee for attorney general following a storm of criticism.

In another instance, the White House rescinded the nomination of EJ Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics after concerns about his political activism and lack of experience.

Despite these exceptions, most of Trump’s nominees — including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., and FBI Director Kash Patel — have secured Senate confirmation despite pockets of opposition.

The Ingrassia case, however, appeared to strike a nerve within the party, especially among members seeking to distance themselves from racially charged controversies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The White House has not commented further on whether Ingrassia will retain his current DHS liaison role.

With inputs from agencies

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