‘Insane and Indefensible’: Trump Stuns By Nominating Former Far-Right Podcast Host to Head Ethics Watchdog
(AP Photo/John McDonnell)
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday night the nomination of Paul Ingrassia, a former far-right podcaster and conspiracy theorist, to be the next head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) – an independent ethics watchdog empowered to protect federal employees and whistleblowers.
“Paul is a highly respected attorney, writer, and Constitutional Scholar, who has done a tremendous job serving as my White House Liaison for Homeland Security. Paul holds degrees from both Cornell Law School and Fordham University, where he majored in Mathematics and Economics, graduating near the top of his class. Congratulations Paul!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Ingrassia, 30, currently serves as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and will replace Hampton Dellinger at OSC, who sued to keep his job after being fired by Trump in February. Before joining the second Trump administration, Ingrassia was best known as a MAGA world pundit who hosted a podcast called Right on Point and often wrote articles for the Gateway Pundit – including a January 2024 “birther” article baselessly arguing Nikki Haley was ineligible to be president, given that her parents were immigrants.
Ingrassia has links to highly controversial figures like alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate and avowed neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. In 2023, Ingrassia worked on Tate’s legal team. Tate is also being investigated by Florida’s attorney general and has a long history of promoting himself online as a kind of “pimp.”
Tate has also grabbed headlines for his outlandish rhetoric over the years. The Anti-Defamation League wrote that Tate “has leaned heavily into unabashedly antisemitic rhetoric, perpetuating Holocaust revisionism, spreading conspiracy theories about Israel, praising Hamas, performing Nazi salutes and encouraging people to embrace and openly engage in racism.”
In June of 2024, Ingrassia was seen at a rally in Detroit led by Fuentes, who is a Holocaust denier and has called for the execution of non-Christians. “I don’t know about you, but calling Donald Trump a racist only makes me like him more,” Fuentes said at the rally, according to NPR.
Ingrassia’s own rhetoric has made waves as well, in 2020 his podcast’s twitter account posted it’s “Time for @realDonaldTrump to declare martial law and secure his re-election.” Ingrassia requires Senate confirmation to lead the OSC permanently, which will undoubtedly be an uphill battle. Many pundits and observers expressed shock at the nomination, including on the right.
Conservative pundit A. G. Hamilton called the move, “Insane and indefensible. The guy is a complete lunatic who has openly supported everyone from the Tate brothers to Nick Fuentes. Does anyone do any vetting in this administration?”
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski noted, “Trump just nominated Paul Ingrassia to run the Office of Special Counsel. Ingrassia is a former far-right podcast host and election denier who once shared an article calling for “martial law” to keep Donald Trump in office following his loss in the 2020 election. He’s 29.”
Below are some reactions to Ingrassia’s nomination:
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