‘Setting Fire To The Whole Farm’: Trump’s Ethics Watchdog Nominee Allegedly Forced Female Colleague To Share Hotel Room

Paul Ingrassia, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, is facing serious claims that could stop his confirmation. The right-wing lawyer now works as the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security. He allegedly changed hotel bookings to force a female colleague to share his room during a work trip to Florida in late July.

According to Politico, Ingrassia arrived at a Florida hotel with a lower-ranking female colleague and other department members. When the group checked in, the woman learned her hotel room had been canceled. Ingrassia then told her she would be staying with him. 

Three government officials familiar with what happened told the reporters that Ingrassia had arranged the cancellation ahead of time. The woman first protested but then agreed to share the room to avoid making a scene. The two ended up sleeping in separate beds. MSNBC’s Barbara McQuade spoke out strongly against the nomination, saying that “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.” 

Ingrassia’s Troubled Past Raises More Concerns

The incident led to an official investigation and has been widely talked about among senior DHS officials ever since. Ingrassia’s attorney denied the claims, saying no last-minute changes were made to hotel reservations and that his client never harassed coworkers.

Beyond the hotel incident, Ingrassia’s past statements and actions have drawn attention. He publicly supported white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes, even publishing a Substack titled “Free Nick Fuentes.” He argued that “dissident voices” like Fuentes should have a place in conservative politics. The nomination comes while Trump administration officials are facing tough questions from Congress.

Ingrassia hosted a podcast called Right on Point. In December 2020, as Trump tried to overturn his election loss, the podcast’s Twitter account posted that it was time for Trump to “declare martial law and secure his re-election.” On the night of the January 6 attack, the account posted a quote from President John F. Kennedy suggesting that making peaceful revolution impossible would make violent revolution inevitable.

CNN reported that Ingrassia’s tweets compared former Vice President Mike Pence to Brutus and Judas, saying he belongs in the “ninth circle of hell.” He called many times for kicking out “traitors” from the Republican Party. The Atlantic noted he called Nikki Haley, Trump’s former UN ambassador, an “insufferable b—-” and questioned whether she might be an “anchor baby.”

In July, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced he would not support Ingrassia’s nomination, making confirmation unlikely. These new claims make his chances of leading the independent ethics agency even worse.