‘He’s not going to pass’: Thune says controversial Trump nominee for whistleblower office won’t be confirmed

By Morgan Rimmer, Annie Grayer, Ted Barrett, CNN

(CNN) — Paul Ingrassia’s nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel is dead on arrival in the Senate, per Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who declared Monday night that “he’s not going to pass” after Politico reported on racist text messages allegedly sent by Ingrassia to a group chat.

Ingrassia is set to appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing, and at least one Republican senator on the panel is already planning to vote against advancing Ingrassia’s nomination.

“No, I do not support him,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said Monday night. If every Democrat on the committee opposes Ingrassia, and Scott joins them, that would be enough to block the nomination.

Asked if the White House should pull Ingrassia’s nomination, Thune told reporters, “I hope so,” and chuckled before adding, “He’s not going to pass.”

President Donald Trump nominated Ingrassia in May to lead the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency tasked with protecting federal whistleblowers and enforcing civil service laws.

CNN’s KFile has previously reported on Ingrassia’s history of racist invective and conspiratorial rants, as well his claims that straight White men are the most intelligent demographic group.

His nomination has drawn scrutiny over his past promotion of conspiracy theories and tweets from his podcast that included calls for martial law following Trump’s 2020 election loss and harsh anti-Israel rhetoric aimed at the GOP. Ingrassia has also been scrutinized for his ties to Nick Fuentes, a noted White nationalist and Holocaust denier, as well as his defense of Fuentes’ ability to post on social media.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul would not say if he’d oppose Ingrassia, but he noted that the administration will have to decide if it is comfortable with Ingrassia’s nomination moving forward.

“I think that ultimately, there are a lot of questions on the nomination that the White House has to make a determination whether they think his nomination can get through, and we’re going to wait and hear from them what their thoughts are, whether they’ve talked to all the Republican members, and whether they think they have the votes,” Paul told reporters.

Other GOP senators refused to say if they’d back Ingrassia and said they want to hear from him on Thursday. “It sounds like there’s new information out tonight, I haven’t seen,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. “I’m sure we will welcome the opportunity to have his hearing on Thursday and respond to folks’ questions.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio added that he hasn’t “delved into it yet,” but he imagined they’d learn more on Thursday, and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said he’d like to speak with Ingrassia again, noting there are “plenty of questions” after the text messages came to light. “I want to be able to talk to him about it.”

The text messages in question, obtained by Politico, allegedly included Ingrassia saying he has “a Nazi streak,” and arguing that Martin Luther King Jr. Day “should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”

Ingrassia’s lawyer, Edward Andrew Paltzik, wouldn’t confirm to Politico if the texts were authentic and suggested the messages were “making fun” of liberals.

“Looks like these texts could be manipulated or are being provided with material context omitted. However, arguendo, even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis,’” he said in a statement.

“In reality, Mr. Ingrassia has incredible support from the Jewish community because Jews know that Mr. Ingrassia is the furthest thing from a Nazi.”

In a later statement to Politico, Paltzik said, “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. 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. We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages.”

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

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