President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, withdrew his name from consideration on Tuesday after his confirmation looked destined to fail.
In a social media post Tuesday night, Ingrassia said he would no longer attend his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday “because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.”
“I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again!” Ingrassia added.
While Ingrassia seemed to leave the door open to a confirmation vote at a later date, a White House official told MSNBC late Tuesday night that Ingrassia is no longer the nominee for the post.
The announcement came after a whirlwind 24 hours for Trump’s nominee, which began when Politico published racist text messages allegedly sent by the nominee to a group chat with about a half-dozen Republican operatives and influencers. In those texts, Ingrassia is alleged to have said that Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell,” and that he had “a Nazi streak.”
Ingrassia’s lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, told Politico that “these texts could be manipulated or are being provided with material context omitted,” adding that “they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis.’”
“In reality, Mr. Ingrassia has incredible support from the Jewish community because Jews know that Mr. Ingrassia is the furthest thing from a Nazi,” Paltzik said.
In a statement to Politico days later, the attorney added, “We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages.”
“In this age of AI, authentication of allegedly leaked messages, which could be outright falsehoods, doctored, or manipulated, or lacking critical context, is extremely difficult,” Paltzik said. “What is certain, though, is that there are individuals who cloak themselves in anonymity while executing their underhanded personal agendas to harm Mr. Ingrassia at all costs.”
Ingrassia himself remained defiant following the report, telling MSNBC he was “holding firm” and noting that he would not ask for his nomination to be pulled.
His support on Capitol Hill, however, quickly evaporated.
At least three Republicans on the Senate Committee on Homeland and Security and Government Affairs — which was scheduled to hold Ingrassia’s confirmation hearing — told MSNBC they would not support Ingrassia’s nomination: Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Joni Ernst of Iowa. The senators cited the newly unearthed text messages, and one pointed to other controversial comments Ingrassia made in the past and his short tenure as an attorney.
“I cannot support him,” Lankford said Tuesday. “There are other public messages that are out there from previous posts that he had on Twitter and other things that raise a lot of questions and issues already.”
If all Democrats on the committee opposed advancing Ingrassia’s nomination as expected, just one GOP defection would have tanked his bid.
In perhaps one of the most telling signs of Ingrassia’s doomed nomination, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Monday night that Ingrassia’s nomination was “not going to pass.” And pressed Tuesday morning on whether it would be a mistake for Ingrassia to attend his hearing on Thursday, Thune laughed.
“Yeah,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democrats argued Ingrassia’s nomination was headed for failure from the start, presenting the text messages simply as the last straw.
“The chance of that nomination are slim to none and slim just left town,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told MSNBC before Ingrassia withdrew his nomination. “I think the Politico article dealt a well-deserved demise to that nomination, which was on its way south anyway.”
