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Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominee allegedly told a Republican group chat that he had “Nazi tendencies” and advocated for a “(watering down)” holiday honoring Black heritage and other racist remarks, according to a new Politico report published on Monday, Oct. 20.
The report revealed text messages purported to be from Paul Ingrassia, who has been appointed as special counsel for the United States and is scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday.
In January 2024, Ingrassia, 30, allegedly said in a group chat with about six Republican operatives and influencers that “MLK Jr. is the George Floyd of the 1960s and his ‘vacation’ is over and he should be thrown into the 7th circle of hell where he belongs.”
One of the participants answered, “Jesus Christ.”
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In another conversation, Ingrassia allegedly used an Italian slur against black people and wrote, “From Kwanzaa (sic) to MLK JR Day to Black History Month to Juneteenth…every single one of us needs to be eviscerated.”
In May 2024, when the group was talking about Trump campaign staffers working to reach minority voters in Georgia, Ingrassia suggested that the Founding Fathers did not approve of whiteness.
“Paul is in the Hitler Youth along with Fuhrer Steve Bannon,” one person in the chat responded to Ingrassia’s comment, referring to Nazi Germany’s militia ranks and Republican strategists.
Ingrassia reportedly wrote, “I admit that sometimes I have Nazi tendencies in me, but I admit that.”
“There’s a new show[Live From America]starring Nick Fuentes and Paul Adolph Ingrassia,” one person replied, referring to the platform’s show with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Rumble.
“LOL,” Ingrassia replied.
A source who provided the texts to Politico said the text messages were not taken as a joke, and three others pushed back against Ingrassia’s comments.
Ingrassia’s lawyer, Edward Andrew Palczyk, suggested to the outlet that some of the texts were intended to be a joke at the expense of liberals, but he would not confirm whether they were genuine.
“These texts appear to have been manipulated or provided with important context omitted. But even if the texts were authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating, satirical humor poking fun at the fact that liberals bizarrely and routinely refer to MAGA supporters as ‘Nazis,'” Palchik said in a statement to Politico.
“In fact, Mr. Ingrassia has incredible support from the Jewish community, because Jews know that Mr. Ingrassia is the furthest thing from a Nazi.”
In a follow-up statement days later, Mr. Palczyk criticized Mr. Ingrassia for criticizing him.
“In this age of AI, it is extremely difficult to authenticate allegedly leaked messages that are completely false, tampered with, manipulated, or lack critical context,” he wrote. “What is certain, however, is that there are individuals who carry out secret personal agendas to harm Mr. Ingrassia at all costs, while concealing their anonymity. We do not accept the authenticity of these messages.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Paltzik for comment.
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Many other text conversations included racist remarks, Politico reported.
In January 2024, he allegedly wrote, “Never trust Chinese or Indians,” referring to former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
In another conversation, one member of the group chat told Ingrassia to stop sending racist messages, writing, “Paul, you’re coming across as a white supremacist who benefits no one.”
Afterwards, Ingrassia reportedly said, “Defending the founding of our country is not ‘white supremacist,'” and one lawmaker responded by saying that Ingrassia “reflexively started saying that white people built this country.”
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“They did,” Ingrassia said.
Shortly after the May 2024 text exchange, the group chat disbanded.
“I will no longer post in this thread,” one member wrote. “This group has enemies. Please remove my name from this thread.”
Mr. Ingrassia has served in several roles in the Trump administration, including as a liaison to the Justice Department and then to the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump nominated him to head the Office of Special Counsel in May, but the appointment was postponed.
According to Politico, Republican senators postponed Ingrassia’s nomination hearing in July. One senator expressed concern about “some of the anti-Semitic statements.”
Ingrassia was also accused of sexual harassment earlier this year, Politico reported. He called the reports on the harassment allegations a “relentless political attack” and insisted they should be retracted.
