Latest news with #U.S.OfficeofSpecialCounsel
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's pick for a key watchdog role is irresponsibly unqualified for the job
Picking Paul Ingrassia to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel is not like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. It's more like setting fire to the whole farm. On Thursday, President Donald Trump nominated the former far-right podcast host to lead the important albeit little-known federal agency office. OSC is not to be confused with the special counsel position recently occupied by Jack Smith, who was appointed under federal regulations by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump for alleged violations of criminal law. Instead, OSC is an independent agency created by Congress as part of the Civil Service Reform Act in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The office protects whistleblowers and other federal workers from unlawful employment practices. OSC also enforces the Hatch Act, the law that bars political activity in the federal workplace. The nature of the work demands an experienced investigator who is scrupulously apolitical. Ingrassia is anything but. The 30-year-old Ingrassia has been a lawyer for only three years. He previously worked at the Claremont Institute, the same far-right think tank that brought us John Eastman, a key alleged architect of the 2020 election's fake elector scheme. According to its website, Claremont is currently 'working to undermine the Left's hold over America's institutions and conscience.' Ingrassia doesn't have the legal experience for the role. But he has something more important, at least for this administration. Early in Trump's second term, Ingrassia served as the president's liaison to the Justice Department, where he referred to himself as Trump's 'eyes and ears,' according to NBC News. He was reassigned to the Department of Homeland Security after he reportedly clashed with DOJ officials by pushing to hire candidates with 'exceptional loyalty' to Trump, reports ABC News. His views on the Jan. 6 riot are extreme, even by MAGA standards. In December, Ingrassia called for not only pardons of the Jan. 6 defendants, but also for $1 million per family in reparations. He advocated for Trump to 'expressly name, in a public proclamation, any judge and prosecutor involved in the J6 scam — and call on them to resign from their offices, and pressure Congress to undertake impeachment proceedings against them if they do not cooperate.' Ingrassia also urged Congress to make Jan. 6 a national holiday to place 'the day's events in their proper historical context: as a peaceful protest against a great injustice affecting our electoral system.' Ingrassia has referred to former Vice President Mike Pence as a traitor who belongs in 'the ninth circle of hell.' Of course, all private citizens are entitled to express their opinions, but someone who is either as delusional or sycophantic as Ingrassia is, in my opinion, simply unfit to lead an agency that is tasked with enforcing nonpartisanship. In February, Trump fired the prior head of OSC, Hampton Dellinger, a Joe Biden appointee who was only one year into a five-year term set by Congress. Dellinger challenged his removal, alleging it violated a federal law that prohibits termination except for 'inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' A court had found Dellinger's dismissal unlawful, but Dellinger dropped his lawsuit when an appeals court declined to reinstate him. Trump's move to effectively neuter OSC may be in response to the agency's oversight during his first term, when investigators found that 13 senior administration officials violated the Hatch Act by campaigning while conducting official government business. A loyalist at the helm of the agency could help Trump avoid similar findings. What's more, without an independent watchdog in charge, whistleblowers may be reluctant to come forward with complaints of fraud, waste and abuse at federal agencies. Federal employees will also lose their advocate in cases of prohibited personnel practices, such as discrimination, coercing political activity or violations of our merit system in the civil service. This move threatens the integrity and efficiency of our civil service. The selection of Ingrassia to lead OSC rivals the nomination of Ed Martin as U.S. attorney in Washington. Trump ultimately withdrew Martin's nomination after he failed to earn support from key Republican senators. Martin now leads the Justice Department's 'Weaponization Working Group' and serves as Trump's pardon attorney, where he has already processed two dozen pardons that include corrupt public officials, business executives and Trump supporters. Last week, Martin posted on social media, 'No MAGA left behind.' Like the U.S. attorney position, the head of the Office of Special Counsel must be confirmed by the Senate. For the sake of our federal workforce and the important work they do for our country, let's hope this nomination meets the same fate as Martin's. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump nominates former podcast host with history of inflammatory comments for top ethics job
President Donald Trump has nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former podcast host with a long history of inflammatory remarks, to head the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. '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,' Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social announcing the nomination Thursday night. Ingrassia is a far-right former podcaster and commentator with a lengthy list of incendiary comments. He has called for Jan. 6 to be declared a national holiday to honor the 'peaceful protest against a great injustice affecting our electoral system' and dismissed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel as a 'psyop.' He has worked for and praised 'manosphere' influencer Andrew Tate, who's facing rape and human trafficking charges, calling him an 'extraordinary human being.' He has referred to Tate as 'a dissident of authoritarianism' — a title he has said applies as well to white nationalist Nick Fuentes, the rapper Ye and Trump. He has also called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be jailed, and referred to former Vice President Mike Pence as an 'FBI asset.' Ingrassia graduated from Cornell Law in 2022, joined conservative think tank The Claremont Institute later that year, became a leader in the New York Young Republican Club, and then went on to be a frequent presence at Trump rallies and Mar-a-Lago in 2023 and 2024. He's currently working as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and was formerly the administration's liaison to the Justice Department, where he'd been seen walking the halls, touting the president's agenda and telling people he was acting as the 'eyes and ears' of the White House. His post at the Office of Special Counsel will require Senate confirmation. The OSC is an independent federal investigative and prosecuting agency, tasked with shielding federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation for whistleblowing. The agency head is confirmed to a five-year term, but Trump fired then-OSC head Hampton Dellinger earlier this year. Dellinger, a Biden nominee who was confirmed to the post last year, fought his dismissal in court but eventually dropped the suit. Ingrassia thanked Trump for nominating him in a post on X. 'As Special Counsel, my team and I will make every effort to restore competence and integrity to the Executive Branch — with priority on eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal workforce and revitalize the Rule of Law and Fairness in Hatch Act enforcement,' he wrote. This article was originally published on
NBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump nominates former podcast host with history of inflammatory comments for top ethics job
President Donald Trump has nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former podcast host with a long history of inflammatory remarks, to head the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. '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,' Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social announcing the nomination Thursday night. Ingrassia is a far-right former podcaster and commentator with a lengthy list of incendiary comments. He has called for Jan. 6 to be declared a national holiday to honor the 'peaceful protest against a great injustice affecting our electoral system' and dismissed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel as a ' psyop.' He has worked for and praised 'manosphere' influencer Andrew Tate, who's facing rape and human trafficking charges, calling him an 'extraordinary human being.' He has referred to Tate as 'a dissident of authoritarianism' — a title he has said applies as well to white nationalist Nick Fuentes, the rapper Ye and Trump. He has also called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be jailed, and referred to former Vice President Mike Pence as an 'FBI asset.' Ingrassia graduated from Cornell Law in 2022, joined conservative think tank The Claremont Institute later that year, became a leader in the New York Young Republican Club, and then went on to be a frequent presence at Trump rallies and Mar-a-Lago in 2023 and 2024. He's currently working as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and was formerly the administration's liaison to the Justice Department, where he'd been seen walking the halls, touting the president's agenda and telling people he was acting as the 'eyes and ears' of the White House. His post at the Office of Special Counsel will require Senate confirmation. The OSC is an independent federal investigative and prosecuting agency, tasked with shielding federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation for whistleblowing. The agency head is confirmed to a five-year term, but Trump fired then-OSC head Hampton Dellinger earlier this year. Dellinger, a Biden nominee who was confirmed to the post last year, fought his dismissal in court but eventually dropped the suit. Ingrassia thanked Trump for nominating him in a post on X. 'As Special Counsel, my team and I will make every effort to restore competence and integrity to the Executive Branch — with priority on eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal workforce and revitalize the Rule of Law and Fairness in Hatch Act enforcement,' he wrote.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump taps right-wing lawyer, former podcast host to lead the Office of Special Counsel
During Donald Trump's first term, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel was a routine annoyance. The OSC — not to be confused with appointed special counsels such as Jack Smith or Robert Mueller — frequently investigated allegations of misconduct and ethical lapses at the White House, which led to multiple findings related to Hatch Act violations. The president was apparently determined to bring the office to heel in his second term, which is why he fired Hampton Dellinger as the head of an independent ethics agency just a couple of weeks after his inaugural. This touched off a legal fight, which the White House ultimately won, and offered Trump an opportunity to choose a new OSC chief. We now know that he made an indefensible choice. In an item posted to his social media platform late Thursday, the president announced plans to nominate Paul Ingrassia to lead the office, describing Ingrassia, the current White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, as 'a highly respected attorney, writer, and Constitutional Scholar.' That can charitably be described as an incomplete description of what makes Ingrassia notable. The Washington Post reported: Ingrassia ... has publicly advocated for white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes, publishing a Substack titled 'Free Nick Fuentes' and writing on X that 'dissident voices' such as Fuentes should have a place in conservative politics. He was also part of a legal team representing self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who has been charged with human trafficking and forming an organized-crime group in Romania, as well as rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, Ingrassia likened Tate to 'the embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence.' What's more, as The New York Times reported, Ingrassia also hosted a podcast, called 'Right on Point,' and in December 2020, as Trump tried to overturn the results of his election defeat, the podcast posted on Twitter that it was time for outgoing Republican president 'to declare martial law and secure his re-election.' In case that weren't quite enough, a CNN report from earlier this year noted that Ingrassia's podcast account also posted a quote from President John F. Kennedy the night of the Jan. 6 attack that read, 'Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, (will) make violent revolution inevitable.' The same CNN piece added, 'Ingrassia's tweets have likened Pence to Brutus and Judas, saying he belongs in the 'ninth circle of hell.' He has repeatedly called for expelling 'traitors' from the GOP.' The Atlantic noted that Ingrassia has called Nikki Haley, Donald Trump's former United Nations ambassador who ran against him, in the Republican primary, an 'insufferable b---h' who might be an 'anchor baby' too. After Trump announced his selection — which will require Senate confirmation — Ingrassia said online that he intends to 'make every effort to restore competence and integrity to the Executive Branch ... and Revitalize the Rule of Law.' Given his radical background, that seems extraordinarily unlikely. This article was originally published on
USA Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump picks Paul Ingrassia to head U.S. Office of Special Counsel
Trump picks Paul Ingrassia to head U.S. Office of Special Counsel Show Caption Hide Caption Judge blocks Trump's foreign student ban at Harvard University A federal judge extended an order to block the Trump administration from revoking foreign students to Harvard University. President Donald Trump announced Paul Ingrassia, who is currently a White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, as his pick to head the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. '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,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on May 29. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022 and worked at a law firm for 10 months, according to his profile on LinkedIn. The Office of Special Counsel investigates and prosecutes allegations of prohibited personnel practices (PPPs) of federal employees and applicants, especially retaliation for whistleblowing. The office also investigates allegations of wrongdoing within the executive branch and enforces the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activity by government employees. In a post on X, Ingrassia wrote that he would make 'every effort to restore competence and integrity to the Executive Branch — with priority on eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal workforce and revitalize the Rule of Law and Fairness in Hatch Act enforcement.' The previous occupant of the position, Hampton Dellinger, was fired by Trump in February. He sued to keep his job, and while a federal judge initially issued a temporary restraining order blocking Trump, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling clearing the way for his firing. Dellinger ended his legal battle against Trump on March 6. In February, Dellinger wrote in a statement that the mass firings of probationary employees led by the Department of Government Efficiency appear illegal. He asked a specialized labor board to pause the terminations of six employees in six different federal agencies so the watchdog organization could investigate. Dellinger wrote in a statement that the terminations appear "contrary to a reasonable reading of the law," particularly the law about reductions in force. Federal law generally requires 60 days' notice for a reduction in force and prohibits probationary employees from being fired for reasons unrelated to performance or conduct. Ingrassia also briefly served as the White House liaison for the Department of Justice shortly after Trump returned to office in January. But he was reassigned to DHS after pushing to recruit candidates showing "exceptional loyalty" to Trump, and his efforts sparked clashes with Attorney General Pam Bondi's top aide, Chad Mizelle, ABC News reported in February. Contributing: Erin Mansfield
