Trump's nominee to lead a watchdog agency hits trouble over MLK and 'Nazi streak' text messages

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead an office charged with protecting federal whistleblowers appeared to be in jeopardy on 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 of a text chat that showed him saying the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell." Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.

“He’s not going to pass,” Thune told reporters.

Two Republicans who serve on the committee with jurisdiction over the nomination for the Office of Special Counsel job, Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said they do not support Ingrassia’s confirmation.

“I'm a no. It never should have got this far,” Johnson said Tuesday. “They ought to pull the nomination.”

Republicans have been able to muscle through the vast majority of Trump's nominees in roll call votes despite stiff Democratic opposition. But there have been sporadic instances when Republicans have pushed back, generally behind the scenes, showing there are limits to their support.

Most notably, Matt Gaetz withdrew as Trump's first choice for attorney general soon after being tabbed for the job. In May, Trump pulled 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 support for Jan. 6 rioters. And last month, the White House announced it would be withdrawing the nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni was supposed to succeed a BLS director who was fired following a disappointing jobs report.

According to texts viewed by Politico, Ingrassia told those in the chat that “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.” Politico also spoke to Ingrassia's lawyer, who said the text messages might have been manipulated or were missing context. The lawyer did not confirm the texts were authentic.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Ingrassia’s texts, if authentic, were "foul and disqualifying” He said Trump should pull the nomination of Ingrassia, who works as the White House liaison for Homeland Security.

"He should be fired from his current job within the administration," Schumer said after reading some of the text messages on the Senate floor. “And he should never hold a position of leadership within the Republican Party or the government ever again.”

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is scheduled to hear from Ingrassia on Thursday. It was unclear if anything on that front has changed with the panel's chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., saying “we're going to know more on Thursday.”

The Office of Special Counsel is an investigative and prosecutorial office that works to protect government employees and whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. It's also responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act, which restricts the partisan political activities of government workers.

The office, now under the leadership of acting Director Jamieson Greer, confirmed in August that it was investigating former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith on allegations his investigation into Trump constituted political activity. Smith’s lawyers have said the investigation was “wholly without merit,” based on an “imaginary and unfounded” premise.

In May, Trump described Ingrassia in a social media post as a “highly respected attorney, writer and Constitutional Scholar.”

Ingrassia briefly served in the White House liaison position at the Justice Department. He's also a former right-wing podcast host who promoted the false claim that the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, was rigged.