Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists : NPR

President Trump has nominated 30-year-old conservative lawyer Paul Ingrassia, to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a government ethics office, despite Ingrassia’s ties to multiple antisemitic extremists.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ingrassia would oversee the agency that enforces the Hatch Act, which limits government employees from engaging in certain partisan political activities, and provides protections to whistleblowers. (The agency is separate and distinct from special counsels appointed by the Department of Justice, such as Robert Mueller or Jack Smith, who investigate sensitive cases.)

As NPR reported earlier this month, Jewish civil rights leaders have raised concerns about Ingrassia’s ties to extremists, particularly in light of the administration’s stated commitment to fighting antisemitism. The Trump Administration recently promoted Kingsley Wilson to the role of Pentagon press secretary over the objection of the American Jewish Committee, which said Wilson was “unfit” for government service, because she shared “antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook.” The White House has justified the attempted deportation of international students and the withholding of billions of dollars in funding to universities as parts of a plan to combat antisemitic hate.

“Appointing someone to a senior administration role despite their documented support for antisemites seriously conflicts with and undermines ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism at this critical moment,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement in response to Ingrassia’s nomination.

In contrast to prior leaders of the Office of Special Counsel, who typically had years of legal experience, Ingrassia has only briefly worked as a lawyer. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022 and became a registered attorney in New York less than a year ago, in July 2024. He caught the eye of the president through his pro-Trump blog posts during the 2024 presidential campaign and joined the administration in January 2025.

“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 posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Paul holds degrees from both Cornell Law School and Fordham University, where he majored in Mathematics and Economics, graduating near the top of his class. Congratulations Paul!”

The White House did not respond to NPR’s request for comment about Ingrassia’s documented ties to antisemitic extremists.

In recent years, Ingrassia worked on the legal team for Andrew Tate, the “manosphere” influencer and self-described “misogynist”, who has faced allegations of rape and human trafficking in both the United Kingdom and Romania — charges Tate denies. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Tate has also promoted “Holocaust revisionism” and antisemitism, and uses “Jew” as an insult on social media.

Ingrassia has not only assisted in Tate’s legal defense, but also praised him as an “extraordinary man” and “the embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence,” who has been unjustly targeted by “the global elites.”