President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel withdrew his name “due to a vicious witch hunt orchestrated by far-left outlets desperate to derail President Trump’s agenda to drain the swamp.”

What they had done was claim that he had been accused of sexual harassment.

The result is a $150 million defamation lawsuit by Paul Ingrassia against Politico and a reporter, Daniel Lippman.

A report in the Gateway Pundit, for whom Ingrassia served for a time as a contributor, revealed the development.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I have just filed a $150,000,000 defamation lawsuit against Politico and Daniel Lippman.

Very proud of all the hard work done by my absolutely incredible legal team – the Truth will finally come out, and Justice will be served! pic.twitter.com/4xuYn0qdfC

— Paul Ingrassia (@PaulIngrassia) October 28, 2025

The report said the lawsuit comes “just days after Ingrassia was forced to withdraw his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel” because of that “vicious witch hunt.”

Ingrassia announced, “I have just filed a $150,000,000 defamation lawsuit against Politico and Daniel Lippman. Very proud of all the hard work done by my absolutely incredible legal team – the Truth will finally come out, and Justice will be served!”

The case was brought in Virginia and confirmed by his counsel, Edward Andrew Paltzik of Taylor Dykema PLLC. It was triggered by Politico’s October 9 article by Lippman titled “Key Trump nominee accused of sexual harassment.”

Paltzik said such claims are “categorically false” and confirmed Ingrassia “has never sexually harassed anyone – full stop.”

Paltzik told the Gateway Pundit, “Paul Ingrassia’s case is about one of the most substantial threats to the future of Western Civilization and to our one-of-a-kind Republic in particular: the Far Left’s weaponization of journalism. We can no longer afford to sit back and just hope against hope that the situation will improve. Only by fighting back in the courts against this weaponization, which is exactly what Mr. Ingrassia is courageously doing, will prevail against this scourge.”

I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.

I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to…

— Paul Ingrassia (@PaulIngrassia) October 21, 2025

Ingrassia earlier withdrew his name from contention for the OSC position, pointing out that several senators had succumbed to the damage campaign from Politico.

“I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” he confirmed.

According to a report from the Washington Examiner, Ingrassia also is the current White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security.

There also was an issue with Politico reporting text messages involving Ingrassia, texts that have not been confirmed.

“Looks like these texts could be manipulated or are being provided with material context omitted,” charged Paltzik. “However, arguendo, even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis.’”

Those could be “outright falsehoods, doctored, or manipulated,” the lawyer said.