Who is Paul Ingrassia, Trump nominee who said he had a ‘Nazi streak’?
Donald Trump’s nominee for the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Paul Ingrassia, had once told other Republican Nominees in a text chain that he has a “Nazi Streak” and that the “Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be tossed into the seventh circle of hell”.
Ingrassia is scheduled for a confirmation hearing on Thursday for a role responsible for safeguarding federal whistleblowers, investigating political coercion.
According to the texts, which were obtained and reviewed by Politico, Ingrassia made the remarks in a chain with a half-dozen Republican operatives and influencers.
In the texts dated from January 2024, Ingrassia said, “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs,” to which the chat responded, “Jesus Christ”.
A month earlier, Ingrassia wrote that all holidays that are related to Black people, such as Black History Month or Juneteenth, “need to be eviscerated. To say Black people, he used an Italian slur.
In May 2024, while the chat conversed of a Trump campaign staffer who was hired in Georgia too reach minority voters, Ingrassia said that she didn’t show enough deference to the Founding Fathers being white. One member of the chat responded, “Paul belongs in the Hitler Youth with Ubergruppenfuhrer Steve Bannon.” ,
The term refers to a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany, and Steve Bannon was the White House Chief Political Strategist during Trump's first administration for the first 7 months.
Paul's reply was “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it.”
The text chain was obtained by the outlet from a member of the chat who also confirmed that the number belonged to Ingrassia.
Edward Andre Paltzik, a lawyer for Ingrassia, had initially said that the text messages were intended to poke fun at liberals. He also said that the texts could be manipulated. In a statement he wrote, “However, arguendo, even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humour making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis,’”
Who is Paul Ingrassia?
Paul Ingrassia, 30, before he was formally nominated to the OSC, served as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security.
He was admitted to the New York bar only in July 2024, which had garnered criticism, with many pointing out his limited legal experience right before his nomination.
Last week, he was accused of sexual harassment.
A female colleague who was on a business trip with him said that Ingrassia had cancelled her hotel room booking so that the she would have to stay in his room. She said that she initially protested the arrangement but then went along with it so as not to cause a scene while they were with other colleagues. The two slept in separate beds in the room.
Ingrassia had denied the allegations. Paltzik, in a letter to CNBC, said that Ingrassia “ never harassed any coworkers — female or otherwise, sexually or otherwise — in connection with any employment.”
the woman who had filed the complaint had later retracted is and said that there was no wrongdoing.
There are also other controversial chats and ties. In January 2024, referring to Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, he said, “Never trust a chinaman or Indian.” He has been associated with Fuentes, a far-right live streamer known for white supremacist views, and Andrew Tate, a far-right influencer who has been charged with rape and human trafficking.
The group had been disabled after the May 2024 texts as people were tired of Ingrassia’s rhetoric. One chat member said “There are enemies in this group. Please take my name out of this thread.”
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