A key Donald Trump appointee nomination is in serious trouble, after it was revealed his pick to lead a government whistleblower agency sent virulently racist text messages to fellow Republicans.
Paul Ingrassia, whom Trump chose in May to lead the Office of Special Counsel, sent a string of vile text messages in 2024 to a group of fellow Republicans in which he described himself as having a “Nazi streak,” disparaged Martin Luther King Jr., and used racial epithets, according to messages obtained by Politico.
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In one message, Ingrassia said any holidays honoring Black Americans should be cancelled, using an Italian slur for Black people: “No moulignon holidays … From kwanza [sic] to mlk jr day to black history month to Juneteenth. Every single one needs to be eviscerated.”
In another message Ingrassia wrote, “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”
In another instance, one of the group chat members wrote that Ingrassia, “belongs in the Hitler Youth with Ubergruppenfuhrer Steve Bannon.” To which Ingrassia agreed, writing back, “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it.”
And in yet another message, Ingrassia wrote, “Never trust a chinaman or Indian.”
This is the second time in as many weeks that Republicans have been caught up in scandal making racist and pro-Nazi comments. On Wednesday, Politico reported on another group chat, this one consisting of “young” Republican leaders, in which they made racist, antisemitic, and homophobic remarks, including advocating to send people to gas chambers and saying they loved genocidal Nazi Adolf Hitler.
Republicans defended that chat, saying that the 20- and 30-something-year-old members in the text chain were just kids making stupid comments—even though the group included some lawmakers and staff for top Republican elected officials.
This time around, Ingrassia’s behavior is so abhorrent that even some of the worst GOP senators who are in charge of confirming Ingrassia to his position said they cannot support his confirmation.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), a batshit crazy conspiracy theorist, suggested he did not support Ingrassia’s nomination and told reporters on Monday that he hopes Trump rescinds the pick.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also told reporters, in the most weak-willed way possible, he does not support Ingrassia’s nomination. Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rick Scott of Florida are also against the nomination.
“I think you know why,” Johnson told HuffPost about why he is not going to vote for Ingrassia’s confirmation.
As head of the OSC, Ingrassia would be in charge of defending government whistleblowers and enforcing the Hatch Act—a law that prohibits members of the federal government from mixing partisan politics with their official duties. The Trump administration has made a mockery of that law, with Trump administration members attacking Democrats by name on government websites, and even making government propaganda videos blaming the shutdown on Democratic lawmakers.
Even before these latest heinous text messages were made public, Ingrassia had a checkered past.
A police officer escorts Andrew Tate, center, handcuffed, from the Court of Appeal in Bucharest, Romania, on March 12, 2024.
Ingrassia supports infamous white supremacist Nick Fuentes, writing in a post on X in 2024 that the antisemitic podcaster has a place in the conservative movement.
Ingrassia is also a fan of Andrew Tate, the right-wing accused rapist, whom Ingrassia described as “an extraordinary human being” because of his “sheer physical prowess.” And Ingrassia has defended conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay $1.4 billion to the families of Sandy Hook victims, whom Jones spread false conspiracies about.
Ingrassia also hosted a podcast in which he said that after Trump lost his 2020 reelection bid that Trump should “declare martial law and secure his re-election.”
All of these comments were easily found with a simple search of Ingrassia’s social media, meaning that the Trump administration either didn’t vet Ingrassia or, more likely, didn’t care about his disturbing beliefs when nominating him to the role.
Ingrassia’s first confirmation hearing was supposed to take place in July, but was postponed after Tillis said he opposed Ingrassia’s nod.
Now, Ingrassia has his confirmation hearing scheduled for Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hopes the confirmation hearing doesn’t happen.
“He’s not gonna pass,” Thune told reporters on Monday.
