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Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists :

Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists :

Trump Nominates Paul Ingrassia, Linked to Antisemitic Extremists, to Lead U.S. Office of Special Counsel

Washington, D.C., USA – May 31, 2025 – President Donald Trump has nominated Paul Ingrassia, a 30-year-old conservative lawyer, to head the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an agency tasked with enforcing ethics laws, including the Hatch Act, and protecting federal whistleblowers. Announced via Truth Social, the nomination has drawn sharp criticism due to Ingrassia’s documented associations with antisemitic extremists, such as Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and January 6 rioter Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, identified by prosecutors as a “Nazi sympathizer.” NPR’s investigation, published May 31, 2025, alongside reports from The Washington Post and CNN, underscores these ties, prompting alarm from Jewish civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers.

Ingrassia’s Background and Proposed Role

Trump lauded Ingrassia as a “highly respected attorney, writer, and Constitutional Scholar” with degrees from Cornell Law School and Fordham University, where he excelled in Mathematics and Economics. Currently the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ingrassia has been praised for his DHS contributions, with Trump stating he “has done a tremendous job” (NPR, May 31, 2025). If confirmed by the Senate, Ingrassia would lead the OSC, an independent agency that ensures federal employees adhere to ethical standards and protects whistleblowers from retaliation, distinct from DOJ special counsels like Jack Smith.

Connections to Antisemitic Extremists

Ingrassia’s nomination is marred by his ties to figures known for antisemitic rhetoric, contradicting Trump’s campaign promise to combat antisemitism. Key associations, detailed by NPR and corroborated by The Washington Post, include:

  • Nick Fuentes: Ingrassia attended a June 2024 rally supporting Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, after Fuentes was removed from a Turning Point USA event. Ingrassia criticized the ejection as “awful” and wrote a Substack post urging X to reinstate Fuentes, banned for hate speech, arguing for “dissident voices” under the First Amendment. The rally featured chants of “down with Israel,” and Fuentes remarked, “calling Donald Trump a racist only makes me like him more” (NPR, May 31, 2025). Ingrassia claimed he was at the rally for “5 to 10 minutes” by chance and unaware of its organizer (NPR).
  • Timothy Hale-Cusanelli: At a 2023 fundraiser for January 6 defendants, Ingrassia praised Hale-Cusanelli, a convicted rioter prosecutors called a “Nazi sympathizer” for wearing a “Hitler mustache” at work and blaming Orthodox Jews for COVID-19’s spread. Ingrassia described January 6 as a “dark day” due to “deep state” prosecutions of “innocent” individuals like Hale-Cusanelli. He later condemned Hale-Cusanelli’s antisemitic comments but defended his advocacy as a free speech matter, stating, “all Americans are entitled to due process” (NPR, May 31, 2025).
  • Andrew Tate: Ingrassia served on the legal team for Andrew Tate, an influencer facing rape and human trafficking charges in the UK and Romania, which Tate denies. The Anti-Defamation League has flagged Tate for “Holocaust revisionism” and using “Jew” as a slur online. Ingrassia did not address Tate’s antisemitic rhetoric when asked (NPR, May 31, 2025).
  • X Post on Israel-Palestine: Following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,027 people, Ingrassia posted on X, labeling the conflict a “psyop” akin to “Ukraine, BLM, and COVID/vaccine” narratives, a stance some conservatives deemed antisemitic (NPR, May 31, 2025).

Ingrassia rejected accusations of extremism, telling NPR the claims lack “all credibility” and framing his actions as defending free speech (NPR). The White House has not commented on the allegations.

Context Within the Trump Administration

Ingrassia’s nomination aligns with other Trump appointees linked to antisemitic figures, as NPR’s May 14, 2025, report noted:

  • Ed Martin: Appointed to DOJ roles, Martin lauded Hale-Cusanelli as an “extraordinary man” in 2024, later apologizing after his U.S. attorney nomination for D.C. failed (NPR, May 14, 2025).
  • Kash Patel: FBI Director Patel appeared eight times on Stew Peters’ podcast, known for Holocaust denial and antisemitic attacks, facing Senate scrutiny during confirmation (NPR, May 14, 2025).
  • Kingsley Wilson: Promoted to Pentagon press secretary despite sharing antisemitic conspiracy theories, including a 2023 X post about Leo Frank’s guilt, prompting the American Jewish Committee to call him “unfit” (NPR, May 31, 2025).

These appointments clash with Trump’s pledge: “Antisemitic bigotry has no place in a civilized society… no place in the United States of America” (NPR, May 14, 2025). Policies like deporting pro-Palestinian student protesters and cutting university funding, framed as anti-antisemitism measures, are criticized by Amy Spitalnick of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs as a “cynical pretext” given these nominations (NPR).

Reactions and Criticism

The nomination has drawn sharp rebuke:

  • Anti-Defamation League: Warned that appointing someone with “documented support for antisemites” undermines efforts to combat antisemitism (NPR, May 31, 2025).
  • Amy Spitalnick: Criticized the administration for exploiting Jewish fears while elevating extremists, threatening Jewish safety (NPR, May 14, 2025).
  • Democratic Lawmakers: Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, including Sen. Dick Durbin, are expected to grill Ingrassia on his ties, as they did with Patel (CNN, May 31, 2025).

Leo Terrell, leading Trump’s antisemitism task force, controversially endorsed Ingrassia despite his own scrutiny for sharing a white supremacist’s post (NPR, May 31, 2025). X posts amplify the outrage, with @TomDreisbach, @caioblinder, and @WajahatAli highlighting Ingrassia’s Fuentes and Hale-Cusanelli connections, labeling him a “conspiracy theorist” (X, May 30–31, 2025).

Implications and Next Steps

Ingrassia’s Senate confirmation hearing, yet to be scheduled as of May 31, 2025, will likely center on his extremist associations, with Democrats poised to challenge his suitability for an ethics role. A Republican-controlled Senate may still confirm him, but public and Jewish community pressure could complicate the process. If confirmed, Ingrassia’s leadership of the OSC raises concerns about biased enforcement, given his advocacy for controversial figures.

The nomination underscores tensions in Trump’s administration, balancing hard-right support with broader voter expectations. The White House’s silence and Terrell’s backing suggest a strategy to weather the controversy. For updates, follow NPR, The Washington Post, or CNN Politics.