White House pulls controversial DOJ nominee after offensive social media posts revealed

Konstantinos Ligris has said he withdrew his nomination to serve as the Justice Department’s lead liaison with local law enforcement due to a family emergency and denied that the move had anything to do with his posts disparaging police.WASHINGTON (CN) — The Trump administration has quietly pulled its controversial nominee to serve as the Justice Department’s lead liaison with state and local law enforcement after Courthouse News reported he had written and deleted hundreds of offensive social media posts, including some disparaging police.The move came weeks after a contentious hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Konstantinos Ligris — nominated as assistant attorney general and heading the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs — told lawmakers that he did not recall statements he’d made online and that he had not informed the White House or the Justice Department about his posting history.But the nominee, through a spokesperson, denied that his now-deleted posts played a role in the withdrawal and said that he was abroad addressing a family emergency.President Donald Trump submitted a brief statement to Senate lawmakers, dated July 14, informing them that he’d pulled Ligris’ appointment. Neither the White House nor the Judiciary Committee made a public statement about his withdrawal.Matt Shupe, a spokesperson for Ligris, told Courthouse News in a phone call that the nominee had a “direct family member with a serious health condition” and that he had traveled to Greece to care for them.“The White House and the administration were very supportive of him,” Shupe said. “He was looking forward to being confirmed, but tending to his direct family member’s health issue was a priority in his life.”The White House did not respond to a request for comment on why it pulled the nominee.During his June hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ligris got sharp questions from Democrats over hundreds of now-deleted social media posts made from his personal X account, including one where he referred to police officers as “dumb as dirt” in response to a clip of dashcam footage.The nominee told lawmakers at the time that he was “not familiar with some of the contexts or retweets” they had cited, adding that he’d be “happy to take a look at them.” Ligris claimed that he regularly deleted social media posts for “cybersecurity exposure reasons.”Senate Democrats were shocked by the nominee’s reply. “That’s it?” said Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. “At least address the ‘dumb as dirt comment.’ You want to work with police departments across the United States, and it’s a matter of record that you think they’re dumb as dirt?”Courthouse News obtained and reviewed more than 300 of Ligris’ deleted posts, including one where he referred to California Senator Alex Padilla as a “thug” after he was tackled and handcuffed by immigration agents earlier this year during a Homeland Security Department news conference. Ligris also made other disparaging comments about members of Congress from both parties and endorsed calls to impeach federal judges who have ruled against the Trump administration.The nominee told the Judiciary Committee last month that he had not disclosed — and the Justice Department had never asked about — his posting history. “I’m telling you the DOJ never raised these with me,” Ligris told Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The Trump administration similarly had never asked him about his social media use, he said.A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley did not immediately return a request for comment about Ligris’ withdrawal or whether the White House had offered any explanation for the move.As of last week, the Senate’s judicial affairs panel had yet to schedule a committee vote on Ligris’ nomination. No Republicans on the committee had expressed any reservations about advancing him to a final confirmation ballot.The Trump administration has not yet announced a new nominee to lead the Office of Justice Programs.Ligris is the third Justice Department nominee to be withdrawn by the Trump administration so far. Shortly after Inauguration Day, the White House pulled its first nominee for attorney general, former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, amid cratering Republican support.The White House last year similarly withdrew Ed Martin’s nomination to become U.S. attorney for D.C., after North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said he would sink the conservative advocate’s appointment over approving comments he’d made about people convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads