Paul Ingrassia, whom President Donald Trump had nominated to lead the Office of the Special Counsel, withdrew from Senate consideration for that post on Tuesday night after new controversy over a series of racist text messages he reportedly sent that included him saying he had a “Nazi streak.”
Ingrassia’s nomination was already considered doomed in the Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
“I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s [Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee] hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia wrote in a post on the social media site X.
“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!”
Politico reported on Monday that the 30-year-old Ingrassia, in January 2024, “told a group of fellow Republicans in a text chain the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be ‘tossed into the seventh circle of hell’ and said he has a Nazi streak.’”
