WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s decision to lead an office tasked with protecting federal whistleblowers appeared to be in jeopardy Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hoped the White House would withdraw the nomination.
The growing opposition to Paul Ingrassia comes after a Politico report about a text chat in which he said the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “thrown into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described herself in the chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.
“He won’t pass,” Thune told reporters.
Two Republicans on the committee responsible for nominating the special counsel post, Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said they do not support Ingrassia’s confirmation.
“I’m a no. It should never have come to this,” Johnson said Tuesday. “You should get the nomination.”
Republicans managed to push the expansive majority of Trump’s nominees through roll-call votes despite fierce Democratic opposition. But there have been sporadic instances of Republicans resisting, mostly behind the scenes, showing there are limits to their support.
Notably, Matt Gaetz withdrew as Trump’s first choice for attorney general shortly after he was nominated for the post. In May, Trump withdrew his nomination of Ed Martin Jr. to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, bowing to bipartisan concerns about the conservative activist’s modest legal experience and his support for the Jan. 6 rioters. And last month, the White House announced it was withdrawing the nomination of EJ Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni was set to succeed a BLS director who was fired after a disappointing jobs report.
According to texts viewed by Politico, Ingrassia told chat participants that “MLK Jr. was the George Floyd of the 1960s and his ‘vacation’ should be ended and thrown into the seventh circle of hell where he belongs.” Politico also spoke with Ingrassia’s attorney, who said the text messages may have been manipulated or lacked context. The lawyer did not confirm that the texts were real.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Ingrassia’s lyrics, if real, were “reprehensible and disqualifying.” He said Trump should withdraw the nomination of Ingrassia, who works as the White House liaison for homeland security.
“He should be fired from his current position in the administration,” Schumer said after reading some of the text messages on the Senate floor. “And he should never hold a leadership position within the Republican Party or the government again.”
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Ingrassia on Thursday. It was unclear whether anything has changed on that front, with the panel’s chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., saying, “We’ll know more on Thursday.”
The Office of Special Counsel is an investigative and law enforcement agency dedicated to protecting government employees and whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting misconduct. She is also responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activities by government employees.
The office, now under acting director Jamieson Greer, confirmed in August that it was investigating former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith because his investigation into Trump constituted political activity. Smith’s lawyers said the investigation was “completely baseless” and based on an “imaginary and baseless” premise.
In May, Trump described Ingrassia as a “highly respected lawyer, writer and constitutional scholar” in a social media post.
Ingrassia briefly served as the White House Justice Department liaison. He is also a former right-wing podcast host who spread the false claim that the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, was rigged.
