WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s pick to head the office responsible for protecting federal whistleblowers appears to be in jeopardy after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday he expects the White House to withdraw the nomination.
growing opposition to paul ingrassia His remarks came after Politico reported a text chat in which he said the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “thrown into the seventh camp of hell.” Ms. Ingrassia also sometimes referred to herself in the chat as having “Nazi tendencies.”
“He’s not going to pass,” Thun told reporters.
The two Republicans who serve on the committee that oversees nominations for the special counsel position, Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said they did not support Mr. Ingrassia’s confirmation.
“My answer is no. Things should never have gone this far,” Johnson said on Tuesday. “They should withdraw the nomination.”
Republicans were able to push through a majority of President Trump’s nominees in a roll call vote despite fierce opposition from Democrats. However, there have been sporadic instances of behind-the-scenes opposition from Republicans, showing that there are limits to their support.
Most notably, matt gates He withdrew from President Trump’s nomination for attorney general shortly after being nominated. In May, President Trump withdrew Ed Martin Jr.’s nomination to be the capital’s top federal prosecutor, bowing to bipartisan concerns about the conservative activist’s modest legal experience and support for federal prosecutors. January 6th mob. And last month, the White House announced that Withdrawal of E.J. Antoni’s nomination He heads the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni was supposed to replace the BLS manager. I was fired after receiving a disappointing employment report..
“MLK Jr. is the George Floyd of the 1960s and his ‘vacation’ is over and he should be thrown into the 7th Circle of Hell where it belongs,” Ingrassia told those in the chat, according to documents seen by Politico. Politico also spoke with Ingrassia’s attorney, who said the text messages may have been manipulated or lacked context. The lawyer did not confirm the authenticity of the text.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D.Y.) said that if Ingrassia’s text is authentic, it is “foul and disqualifying” and that President Trump should withdraw his nomination to serve as the White House’s homeland security liaison.
“He should be fired from his current position in the administration,” Schumer said after reading part of the text message on the Senate floor. “And he should never again hold a leadership position in the Republican Party or in government.”
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear from Ingrassia on Thursday. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the committee chairman, said, “We’ll have more details on Thursday,” so it’s unclear whether anything has changed in that regard.
The Office of the Special Counsel is an investigative and prosecutorial agency that works to protect public officials and whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. There is also a responsibility to execute hatch methodwhich restricts government employees’ partisan political activities.
The department, now under the direction of Acting Commissioner Jamieson Greer, acknowledged in August that: Former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith is being investigated Regarding the suspicion that the investigation into Mr. Trump is a political activity. Mr Smith’s lawyers said the investigation was a “total waste” based on “fanciful and baseless” premises.
In May, President Trump described Ingrassia as a “highly respected lawyer, author, and constitutional law scholar” in a social media post.
Mr. Ingrassia briefly served as a White House liaison at the Justice Department. He is also a former right-wing podcast host who promoted false claims that the 2020 election was illegitimate. Trump lost. It was a fraud against Democrat Joe Biden.
