Trump taps former right-wing podcast host Paul Ingrassia for key watchdog post

(WASHINGTON) -- President Trump announced Thursday night that he was tapping Paul Ingrassia, a former far-right podcast host, to lead the Office of Special Counsel -- an independent watchdog agency empowered to investigate federal employees and oversee complaints from whistleblowers.

The Trump administration has previously taken aim at the Office of Special Counsel, firing the head of the agency, Hampton Dellinger (a Biden appointee) in February. Dellinger expressed opposition to the Trump administration's firing of federal employees under DOGE-led cuts, noting that many had been fired or laid off without notice or justification.

Dellinger challenged his firing in court and was briefly reinstated to the post until a federal appeals court allowed for his dismissal. Dellinger decided to drop the challenge.

ABC News exclusively reported in February about how Ingrassia, in his role as White House liaison to the Department of Justice, was pushing to hire candidates at the DOJ who exhibited what he called "exceptional loyalty" to Trump. His efforts at DOJ sparked clashes with Attorney General Pam Bondi's top aide, Chad Mizelle, leading Ingrassia to complain directly to President Trump, sources told ABC News.

Ingrassia was pushed out of DOJ and reassigned as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, where he was serving prior to Trump announcing his new role, according to a White House official familiar with the matter.

In a post on X, Ingrassia wrote in response to his nomination: "It’s the highest honor to have been nominated to lead the Office of Special Counsel under President Trump! 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."

For the Senate-confirmed five-year term, Ingrassia will likely face tough questions over his lengthy history of media appearances and posts on social media promoting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as his ties to far-right media figures.

He was previously spotted at a 2024 rally hosted by white nationalist Nick Fuentes and has publicly praised figures like Andrew Tate -- who has faced criminal charges for alleged sexual assault (Tate denies all wrongdoing).

Ingrassia, in a comment to NPR, maintained he did not intend to go to the Fuentes rally and instead was there for another event. "I had no knowledge of who organized the event, observed for 5-10 minutes, then left," he wrote to NPR. He added that the notion that he is an extremist is "lacking in all credibility."

Before joining the Trump administration, Ingrassia led communications efforts for a nonprofit legal organization that promotes itself as "the answer to the useless and radically leftist American Civil Liberties Union," and he was a writer for the right-wing website Gateway Pundit.

Trump has also been known to post some of Ingrassia's pro-Trump stories on social media.

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