‘Never trust an Indian’: Trump nominee Paul Ingrassia’s racist chat on ‘Nazi streak’ leaked, lawyer claims image doctored

Politico reported that Ingrassia also called assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr “the 1960s George Floyd,” referring to the Black man killed by Minneapolis police in 2020. In one of the messages from early 2024, Ingrassia reportedly wrote, “MLK Jr was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”

SCOOP: Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told a group of Republicans in a text chain the MLK Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and said he has “a Nazi streak,” according to a text chat I saw. https://t.co/Tfnhn2w4eR

— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) October 20, 2025

In another racist remark, Ingrassia, according to leaked chat remarks, wrote of former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, “Never trust a chinaman or Indian” and further added, “NEVER,” the texts showed.

Ingrassia further said that holidays commemorating Black people, like Black history month or Juneteenth should be “eviscerated”. While discussing why Republicans feel that Democrats make Black people into victims, he said, “Blacks behave that way because that’s their natural state…You can’t change them. Proof: all of Africa is a shithole, and will always be that way.”

Defending Ingrassia, one of his lawyers, Edward Andrew Paltzik, told Politico that the leaked messages could have been doctored or manipulated in order to deteriorate the chances of Ingrassia’s confirmation for the Office of Special Counsel.

The US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee had postponed Ingrassia’s hearing earlier this summer. The Politico report claimed that it was due to Ingrassia’s alleged antisemitic views.