Paul Ingrassia: Trump Nominee Faces Collapse Over Racist Texts

Who is Paul Ingrassia?

Paul Joseph Ingrassia, born May 13, 1995, is a 30-year-old American attorney and political commentator who currently serves as the White House liaison to the United States Department of Homeland Security. A graduate of Fordham University and Cornell Law School, Ingrassia has become one of the most controversial figures in President Donald Trump's second administration.

In May 2025, Trump nominated Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel, the federal agency responsible for protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activities by federal employees. Trump described him on social media as a "highly respected attorney, writer and Constitutional Scholar."

However, Ingrassia's nomination has been marked by extraordinary controversy from the start. Before entering government service in January 2025, he was a former far-right podcast host who promoted false claims about the 2020 election being rigged and established a Substack blog that Trump frequently cited—describing it himself as "President Trump's favorite Substack."

The Explosive Text Message Scandal

On October 20, 2025, Politico published devastating revelations about text messages from a private group chat involving Ingrassia and other Republican operatives. The messages, which Politico independently verified belonged to Ingrassia's phone number, contained numerous racist statements and disturbing admissions that have effectively ended his chances for confirmation.

The Most Damaging Comments

In the verified text messages, Ingrassia wrote that Martin Luther King Jr. "was the 1960s George Floyd" and declared that MLK's federal holiday "should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs." Using an Italian slur for Black people, he also called for the elimination of "every single one" of the holidays related to Black culture and history, including Kwanzaa, MLK Jr. Day, Black History Month, and Juneteenth.

Perhaps most shockingly, when another participant jokingly compared him to the Hitler Youth, Ingrassia responded: "I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it." Three participants in the chat pushed back against this comment during the exchange, and according to one person interviewed by Politico, Ingrassia's remark was not taken as a joke.

Additional Racist Statements

The text chain revealed a pattern of racist commentary extending over multiple months. Ingrassia wrote about Vivek Ramaswamy: "Never trust a chinaman or Indian" followed by "NEVER." Discussing Black Americans, he stated: "Blacks behave that way because that's their natural state … You can't change them," adding that "all of Africa is a shithole, and will always be that way."

In February 2024, Ingrassia allegedly 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." He also declared: "We should celebrate white men and western civilization and I will never back down from that."

Defense and Authentication Questions

Ingrassia's lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, initially suggested the texts might be satirical or manipulated, stating they "clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters 'Nazis.'" In a subsequent statement, Paltzik called authentication "extremely difficult" in the "age of AI" but declined to confirm whether the messages were authentic.

However, Politico interviewed two participants in the chat and granted them anonymity. One retained the complete message chain and showed it to Politico, which independently verified the phone number belonged to Ingrassia. The person who came forward stated he wanted "the government to be staffed with experienced people who are taken seriously."

Republican Senators Turn Against Nomination

The text message revelations proved to be the final straw for Republican senators who had already expressed concerns about Ingrassia's qualifications and past statements. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, speaking to reporters on October 21, 2025, was unequivocal: "He's not going to pass." Thune added that he hoped the White House would withdraw the nomination.

Multiple Republican senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nomination, publicly announced their opposition. Senator Rick Scott of Florida stated, "I'm a no. It never should have got this far." Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin added, "They ought to pull the nomination." Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma also joined the opposition.

With Republicans holding only a narrow majority in the Senate, losing even three Republican votes would be enough to sink the nomination, as Vice President J.D. Vance would be required to break a tie—an increasingly unlikely scenario given the bipartisan condemnation.

Democratic Response

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Ingrassia's texts, if authentic, "foul and disqualifying." Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer declared: "He should be fired from his current job within the administration. And he should never hold a position of leadership within the Republican Party or the government ever again."

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin sent a letter to President Trump on October 21 demanding that Ingrassia's nomination be withdrawn and that he be fired from federal service entirely.

Career and Background

Ingrassia graduated from Fordham University with a degree in mathematics and economics before earning his law degree from Cornell Law School in May 2022. While attending law school, he wrote for conservative publications including The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit, and was twice named a fellow at the Claremont Institute.

He co-hosted a podcast called "Right on Point" (2018-2020) with his sister Olivia Ingrassia and established a Substack blog that gained Trump's attention as early as April 2024. According to CNN, Trump shared Ingrassia's comments "close to 100 times last year on social media."

Ingrassia worked at The McBride Law Firm, representing clients accused of participating in the January 6 Capitol attack. Controversially, he claimed to represent Andrew Tate in legal affairs before being admitted to the New York bar in July 2024.

White House Roles and Reassignments

In January 2025, Ingrassia was appointed as the Trump administration's liaison to the Department of Justice. He was present at the D.C. Jail when pardoned January 6 defendants were released. His tenure at Justice was marked by loyalty tests, including reportedly calling for employees who worked for previous attorneys general to be fired.

Following disputes with Attorney General Pam Bondi's chief of staff, Ingrassia was reassigned to the Department of Homeland Security in February 2025, where he currently serves as White House liaison.

Previous Controversies Before the Text Scandal

Even before the devastating text message revelations, Ingrassia's nomination faced multiple obstacles. In July 2025, a Senate confirmation hearing was postponed following public backlash over his lack of legal experience, rumored associations with neo-Nazis, and extensive public record of denigrating federal workers. He had previously called federal employees "parasites" and "bugmen" who "leech of the diminishing lifeblood of the dying republic."

Sexual Harassment Investigation

In October 2025, Politico reported that Ingrassia had been investigated for allegedly sexually harassing a lower-ranking female colleague during a July business trip to Orlando. According to DHS officials, Ingrassia allegedly arranged for the woman's hotel reservation to be canceled so she would have to share his room. The woman initially filed a complaint before retracting it, citing fears of retaliation. Ingrassia's attorney denied wrongdoing, and the woman later issued a statement saying claims of harassment were "not true."

Extremist Associations and Inflammatory Statements

Ingrassia has maintained ties to controversial far-right figures including Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, and Andrew Tate, a far-right influencer charged in Britain with rape and human trafficking (which Tate denies). In June 2024, Ingrassia attended a rally for Fuentes, though he later claimed he didn't know who organized it.

He has made numerous inflammatory public statements, including calling the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack a "psyop," stating that education should focus on "elevating the high IQ section of your demographics, so you know, basically young men, straight White men," and promoting false claims that Nikki Haley was ineligible to serve as president because her parents weren't born in the United States.

Following the 2020 election, Ingrassia called for Trump to declare martial law and advocated for secession if efforts to overturn the election failed. He also compared Vice President Mike Pence to notorious traitors like Brutus and Judas Iscariot.

The Office of Special Counsel Role

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent investigative and prosecutorial office responsible for protecting government employees and whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. It also enforces the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activities by federal workers.

The nomination of someone with Ingrassia's record to lead an agency charged with protecting whistleblowers and enforcing ethics rules has been viewed by critics as deeply inappropriate. More than 20 federal employee unions, professional associations, and good government groups formally opposed his nomination even before the text message scandal broke.

Frequently Asked Questions About Paul Ingrassia