The Trump administration once again finds itself ensnared in internecine warfare —this time inside Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where bruised egos, personal rivalries and raw ambition are said to have led to a campaign of leaks that sunk a White House nomination.
White House and DHS insiders tell the Daily Mail that Christopher Pratt, the department’s under secretary for strategy, policy and plans, along with Taylor Bush, deputy to White House liaison Paul Ingrassia, helped orchestrate damaging leaks targeting their colleague.
Three sources say the pair leaked both a sexual harassment tip and the so-called ‘Nazi texts’ that ultimately torpedoed Ingrassia’s nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel, a key federal watchdog agency.
Ingrassia — the 30-year-old nominee hand-picked by President Donald Trump — had been set to face the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this week.
But his confirmation collapsed after Politico published a series of text messages in which he mocked Martin Luther King Jr. Day as ‘the seventh circle of hell’ and described himself as having ‘a Nazi streak.’
The release allegedly was no coincidence, sources insist — but rather the culmination of a months-long vendetta and a plan hatched within the walls of the DHS.
‘They never liked Paul. That’s a fact,’ one high-level DHS official told Daily Mail.
‘Pratt and Ingrassia didn’t get along at all,’ a source at the White House added, noting that the president’s personnel office has long clashed with Pratt, and that Ingrassia was aligned with the faction opposed to him.
‘This is jealousy, pure and simple. They’ve been trying to move chess pieces and take him out for months,’ the source added.
Bush, who is roughly a decade older than Ingrassia, resented working under the younger appointee, the Daily Mail has learned.
‘He’s been knifing him for his job,’ a second DHS source said. ‘They’ve been looking to get rid of Ingrassia from the start.’
White House and Department of Homeland Security insiders tell the Daily Mail that Christopher Pratt, the department’s under secretary for strategy, policy and plans, along with Taylor Bush, deputy to White House liaison Paul Ingrassia (pictured with Trump), orchestrated damaging leaks targeting their colleague
The release allegedly was no coincidence, sources insist – but rather the culmination of a months-long vendetta and a plan hatched within the walls of the DHS (pictured: Kristi Noem)
‘Pratt and Ingrassia didn’t get along at all,’ a source at the White House added (pictured: Christopher Pratt)
Taylor Bush (pictured), who is roughly a decade older than Ingrassia, resented working under the younger appointee, the Daily Mail has learned.
The irony is not lost on DHS insiders: Pratt, a longtime government official, had himself been tapped by the White House for a senior State Department position as the administration’s liaison to the Pentagon.
But his own nomination was quietly withdrawn on September 29.
‘Chris Pratt is arrogant and pretentious. He always wants to get his way — hire his friends — and it’s gotten the department into a lot of trouble. He gets his friends DHS contracts without going through the proper channels, the list goes on,’ said the second DHS source.
Before joining public service, Pratt’s career spanned advising special operations forces in Afghanistan to leading hostage-negotiation efforts. He spent nearly a decade in the private sector and served in a senior role at the Pentagon, managing interagency personnel recovery operations.
One individual involved in leaking Ingrassia’s messages reportedly claimed the move stemmed from a desire for ‘government to be staffed with experienced people who are taken seriously.’
But Ingrassia’s attorney, Edward Paltzik, pushed back, arguing that the texts were misrepresented and stripped of context.
Ingrassia (pictured) did not immediately respond to Daily Mail’s requests for comment
The release was no coincidence, sources insist – it was hatched within the walls of DHS as part of a months-long vendetta
‘Looks like these texts could be manipulated or are being provided with material context omitted,’ Paltzik said. ‘However, 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”.’
Paltzik said the leaks were part of a broader attempt to politically and personally damage his client.
‘In this age of AI, authentication of allegedly leaked messages — which could be outright falsehoods, doctored, or manipulated, or lacking critical context — is extremely difficult,’ he said. ‘What is certain, though, is that there are individuals who cloak themselves in anonymity while executing their underhanded personal agendas to harm Mr. Ingrassia at all costs. We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages.’
The controversy came on the heels of renewed scrutiny over an earlier sexual harassment probe involving Ingrassia during his DHS tenure — an investigation that ultimately cleared him of wrongdoing.
‘Mr. Ingrassia has never harassed any coworkers — female or otherwise, sexually or otherwise — in connection with any employment,’ Paltzik said.
Ingrassia did not immediately respond to Daily Mail’s requests for comment.
Bush denies the claims. ‘These allegations are categorically false. I am not on nor have I ever been on the text chain in question, nor have I ever leaked or shared these messages. Our correspondence has only ever been work related and I have only ever had a cordial working relationship with Ingrassia since we first met back in late March,’ Bush told Daily Mail.
Pratt’s legal team wrote to the Daily Mail: ‘Mr. Pratt has never contacted any media outlet or reporter, in any manner, to provide any information whatsoever. We can confirm these allegations are unequivocally false.’
