Last week, following a request to defend the controversial senior federal watchdog appointee Paul Ingrassia, the Trump administration told CNN that he had the “support of many Jewish groups.”
But after CNN reached out to the Jewish groups mentioned in the administration’s response, many said that they had never heard of him — though some soon reversed course.
Ingrassia, a 30-year-old lawyer, was nominated for the new senior role as head of the United States Office of Special Counsel in May. He has since gathered scrutiny over his defense of the avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes and work with antisemitic influencer Andrew Tate.
In a since-deleted post on X in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Ingrassia wrote that “Israel/Palestine” was a “psyop” and that the United States should not admit Palestinian or Israeli refugees.
Given a chance to respond to a report by CNN last week about Ingrassia’s record of conspiratorial rhetoric, the Trump administration sent CNN a statement in which it alleged that the appointee had the support of “many Jewish groups.”
“He has the support of many Jewish groups and has been a steadfast advocate for Jewish causes and personnel during his time working for the Trump administration,” the statement read.
When pressed on where the support came from, the Trump administration pointed to the Zionist Organization of America, and a group they called “The Holocaust Council,” which CNN interpreted as referring to the board of trustees for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
But a spokesperson for Morton Klein, the president of ZOA, told CNN that Klein had never heard of Ingrassia and had not endorsed his nomination.
Subsequently, Klein told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he had told CNN only that he “didn’t clearly recall endorsing him,” but later realized he had in fact endorsed Ingrassia in an interview on Newsmax.
“And since then, I’ve had further conversations with Paul Ingrassia, which only strengthened my support of having him confirmed,” Klein said in the statement. He said Ingrassia had, to him, condemned the Oct. 7 attack, Fuentes’ views on the Holocaust and Israel and “Jew hatred and obscene Israel-bashing that’s based on ugly lies,” satisfying his expectations.
“Therefore, I do endorse Paul Ingrassia’s nomination and confirmation,” Klein said.
Another organization that told CNN that it had not endorsed Ingrassia later reversed course and offered one.
“He’s a major supporter of Judaism,” the executive president of the Israel Heritage Foundation, a right-wing pro-Israel think tank, told CNN about Ingrassia. “He’s not an antisemite. I consider Paul a very good friend.”
But the chair of the board of trustees for the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Stuart E. Eizenstat, said it could not have endorsed Ingrassia.
“The museum and the council do not take positions on nominees,” Eizenstat told CNN. “We’re a nonpolitical and nonpartisan organization.”
Trump recently removed members of the board who had been appointed by Democrats and replaced them with his own appointees. One of the new appointees, Siggy Flicker, whom Trump appointed in May, called Ingrassia an “antisemite” in a since-deleted Instagram post in June.
The controversy over Ingrassia comes as the Trump administration has also received pushback from the House Jewish Caucus over the promotion of Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary accused of repeatedly posting antisemitic rhetoric online.
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