Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s embattled nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel should not go forward with a confirmation hearing later this week.
Paul Ingrassia used a racial slur in a private text group where he also said the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and that he has “a Nazi streak,” POLITICO reported Monday. That followed an earlier report about a sexual harassment complaint against the 30-year-old White House official that was investigated and later withdrawn.
Asked if it would be a mistake for Ingrassia to appear before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for a scheduled Thursday hearing, Thune laughed then said, “Yeah.”
Committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) declined to say definitively whether the hearing would continue as scheduled. “We’ll know more on Thursday,” he said.
Asked if the White House should withdraw Ingrassia’s nomination, Paul responded, “That’s going to be their decision — we’re waiting to find out what their decision will be.”
Ingrassia doesn’t appear to have the votes to advance out of the panel, with all Democrats expected to oppose him as well as at least three Republicans. GOP leaders don’t believe he has the votes to be confirmed by the full Senate.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, said the White House “ought to withdraw” Ingrassia, saying his nomination was not salvageable.
“It never should’ve gotten this far,” Johnson told reporters.
An attorney for Ingrassia, Edward Andrew Paltzik, said in a statement, “We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages” and that “even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor.”
“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.
Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
