Trump Nominates a Former Far-Right Podcast Host to Head an Ethics Watchdog

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

Trump Nominates a Former Far-Right Podcast Host to Head an Ethics Watchdog

The president picked Paul Ingrassia, the current White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which examines public corruption.


Paul Ingrassia, left, President Trump's new pick to head the Office of Special Counsel, addressed supporters of the Jan. 6 rioters outside a Washington jail in January. Graham Dickie/The New York Times

By Andy Newman
May 29, 2025

President Trump on Thursday nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former far-right podcast host now serving as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, to a new key role: head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent corruption-fighting agency that safeguards federal whistle-blowers and enforces some ethics laws.

The office has had a bumpy ride in the second Trump presidency. In February, Mr. Trump fired the office's head, Hampton Dellinger. Mr. Dellinger sued to keep his job, was temporarily reinstated by a court order, began investigating complaints arising from the Trump administration's mass firings of federal workers and was removed again in March after an appeals court ruled in the administration's favor. The Office of Special Counsel dropped its inquiry into the mass firings in April.

The office had annoyed Mr. Trump during his first term by pursuing allegations of misconduct, resulting in a finding that 13 senior aides had campaigned for his re-election in violation of the law known as the Hatch Act.

Before working for Mr. Trump, Mr. Ingrassia, 30, hosted a podcast, "Right on Point," with his sister, Olivia Ingrassia. In December 2020, as Mr. Trump was contesting his election loss to Joseph R. Biden Jr., the podcast posted on Twitter, "Time for @realDonaldTrump to declare martial law and secure his re-election." ... Mr. Ingrassia has represented the "manosphere" influencer Andrew Tate, who is currently facing criminal charges in Romania and Britain, and pushed a false theory that Nikki Haley was ineligible to run for president. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. ... In a Truth Social post on Thursday night, Mr. Trump called Mr. Ingrassia "a highly respected attorney, writer and Constitutional Scholar."

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Andy Newman writes about New Yorkers facing difficult situations, including homelessness, poverty and mental illness. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/andy-newman

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/us/politics/ingrassia-office-special-counsel.html

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-ingrassia-22b05810b

Hat tip, the usual Bluesky crowd — Ken White, Kevin Kruse …