Ingrassia studied mathematics and economics at Fordham University. After graduating from Cornell Law School in 2022, he worked for the National Constitutional Law Union and for attorney Joseph D. McBride. Ingrassia's Substack page has been cited by President Donald Trump on several occasions; in January 2024, Trump repeated Ingrassia's false claim that Nikki Haley was ineligible to serve as president.
In January 2025, Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, named Ingrassia as the White House liaison to the Department of Justice. Amid a dispute with Chad Mizelle, attorney general Pam Bondi's chief of staff, Ingrassia was reassigned to the Department of Homeland Security the following month. In May, Trump nominated Ingrassia to be special counsel of the United States. His nomination was withdrawn in October after Politico published offensive remarks on race and Nazism that Ingrassia had allegedly texted.
Early life and education
Paul J. Ingrassia[1] was born on May 13, 1995.[2] Ingrassia attended Bayport-Blue Point High School in Bayport, New York, and graduated from Fordham University with a degree in mathematics and economics.[3] He graduated from Cornell Law School in May 2022.[4] Ingrassia served as the senior online editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy.[5]
Ingrassia has maintained a Substack that was read by Trump as early as April 2024, according to Politico Magazine;[10] he has described his blog as "President Trump's favorite Substack".[11] In January 2024, he falsely claimed that Nikki Haley was ineligible to serve as president as neither of her parents were born in the United States, citing a post from the far-right political activist Laura Loomer. The claim was repeated by Trump.[8] According to CNN, Trump had shared Ingrassia's comments nearly one hundred times on social media.[12]
By 2024, Ingrassia had led communications at National Constitutional Law Union, a self-described counterfirm to the American Civil Liberties Union.[4] He was admitted to the New York bar as an attorney in July 2024.[13] Ingrassia worked at Joseph D. McBride's law firm, The McBride Law Firm, representing clients accused of having participated in the January 6 Capitol attack.[4]
In October, Politico reported that Ingrassia had been investigated for allegedly sexually harassing a lower-ranking female colleague during a July business trip to Orlando, Florida. According to several officials, Ingrassia had arranged for the woman's hotel reservation to be canceled so that she would have to share his room; the woman initially filed a human resources complaint before retracting it days later, fearing retaliation. Two officials stated they were interviewed in September by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security regarding allegations of sexual harassment involving Ingrassia. Ingrassia's attorney denied wrongdoing, stating that a human-resources investigation found no misconduct. The woman later issued a statement saying she had "never felt uncomfortable" and that the claims of harassment were "not true." Following the incident, Ingrassia's federal employee badge and access to the Department of Homeland Security's headquarters were temporarily revoked for several days.[17]
Special Counsel of the United States nomination
On May 29, 2025, Trump named Ingrassia as his nominee for the position of special counsel of the United States after the previous special counsel, Hampton Dellinger, had been dismissed in February 2025.[9] In July, after CNN reported on controversial statements Ingrassia had made, the Trump administration claimed that Ingrassia had been supported by "many Jewish groups"; several organizations told CNN that they had not heard of Ingrassia.[18] Prior to Ingrassia's hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, North Carolina senator Thom Tillis told NBC News that he already opposed Ingrassia's nomination for many of his views, including those on the January 6 Capitol attack.[19] Hours before he was set to appear before the committee, Ingrassia's hearing was postponed, amid concerns from three of its Republican members—including its chair, Kentucky senator Rand Paul—over allegedly antisemitic comments Ingrassia had made.[20]
Ingrassia's lack of experience and background elicited concerns from senators.[21] His nomination was opposed by more than twenty federal employee unions, professional associations, and good government groups for his prior comments on federal workers and for prior writings supporting at-will firings of civil servants by the president.[22] Following Politico's publication of offensive remarks Ingrassia had allegedly made in several text messages, Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated that Ingrassia's nomination was "not gonna pass" and urged the White House to withdraw it. Thune was joined by three Republican members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs who expressed opposition to Ingrassia's confirmation.[23] The following day, Ingrassia announced that he was withdrawing his confirmation hearing, citing his belief that the committee would not confirm him. A Trump administration official told Politico that his nomination had been withdrawn.[24]
Deputy general counsel of the General Services Administration (November 2025–present)
In November 2025, Ingrassia was appointed deputy general counsel of the General Services Administration. According to an email obtained by Politico, Ingrassia told colleagues he had been called into the Oval Office and offered the position by President Trump. A White House official confirmed the move, stating that Ingrassia would be "a very helpful addition" to the GSA. His transfer came weeks after he withdrew from consideration to lead the Office of Special Counsel following reports of racist text messages and concerns about his experience. In October 2025, Ingrassia also sued Politico for defamation related to its reporting on a sexual harassment investigation involving him, allegations that he denied.[25]
Views
Domestic and political affairs
Ingrassia has advocated for the First Amendment, particularly in regards to "dissident voices" within conservative environments. In an essay for the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, he criticized the closeness between politics and corporations.[5] Ingrassia has advocated for the far-right political pundit Nick Fuentes, describing him in a post on Substack as among several "dissident voices" who should be integrated within conservative politics.[3] He similarly expressed solidarity with the radio show host Alex Jones amid a lawsuit threatening the fate of Jones's Infowars website.[12]
In 2024, Ingrassia provided a questionnaire to Project 2025 in which he supported stopping immigration, imposing voting tests, and cutting down the workforce at federal agencies because of "toxic ideologies". His answers were released by the whistleblower site Distributed Denial of Secrets in June 2025.[28]
Racial views
Ingrassia has described "straight White men" as an intellectually superior group that should be prioritized in education.[29] In October 2025, Politico published text messages from a group chat with Republican "operatives and influencers" in which Ingrassia made numerous racist statements. In the messages, which were verified by Politico, Ingrassia wrote that Martin Luther King Jr. "was the 1960s George Floyd" and that his holiday should be "tossed into the seventh circle of Hell". He used an Italian slur for Black people while calling for the discontinuation of all US holidays related to Black culture and history, adding that "Blacks behave that way because that's their natural state" and that "all of Africa is a shithole". In reference to Vivek Ramaswamy, Ingrassia wrote, "Never trust a Chinaman or Indian"; he also stated that "We need competent white men in positions of leadership" while rejecting the notion that "all men are created equal". When another participant in the chat compared him to the Hitler Youth, Ingrassia responded, "I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it." His attorney initially suggested the texts could be satirical or manipulated, later stating that authentication of the messages was "extremely difficult" and declining to confirm their authenticity.[29]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
