The top-ranking counterterrorism official recently placed on leave following a Daily Mail investigation has been linked to another influential figure who played a role in her ascent to a high-profile government position, the Daily Mail can disclose.

Julia Varvaro, aged 29, who serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), maintained a notably close connection with Paul Ingrassia, a controversial aide from the Trump administration.

Sources reveal that Varvaro and Ingrassia frequently dined together, spent time at her residence, and even shared hotel accommodations, underscoring the depth of their relationship.

The Daily Mail has learned that Varvaro was the woman who shared a hotel room with 30-year-old Ingrassia during a work trip to Florida last July, an arrangement that led to accusations of manipulation against him and prompted an investigation.

The probe was eventually dropped after Varvaro asserted there was no misconduct, and Ingrassia refuted the claims. He has since launched a defamation lawsuit against Politico for its coverage of the hotel incident, which was reported under the headline: ‘Key Trump Nominee Accused of Sexual Harassment.’ Politico has defended its reporting.

Ingrassia formerly held the position of White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security until November 2025, when Politico brought to light a series of allegedly racist remarks he made in a text exchange with several Republican colleagues. His attorney characterized the messages as satirical, claiming they were intended to mock liberals.

He was subsequently appointed in December to his current role of General Counsel of the General Services Administration. 

According to Ingrassia’s lawsuit, he and Varvaro, two Long Island natives, had known each other long before Trump’s second term and their relationship has always been platonic.

Those claims, however, have been questioned by two of Varvaro’s former boyfriends, who both confronted her over her relationship with Ingrassia, raising suspicions that they had crossed a line.

Last week, the Daily Mail exposed how 57-year-old software executive Robert  Bianchi filed a complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General, accusing Varvaro of trawling for sugar daddies online, and how he blew $40,000 on her during a three-month fling that ended earlier this month.  

Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos also found the claims troubling.

‘Allegations of a sugar daddy relationship and unreported income from that relationship are serious issues for DHS security personnel that need to be resolved,’ he told the Daily Mail.

Now, a New Jersey construction executive, who the Daily Mail has agreed not to name, has come forward to share details of what he says was his own brief fling with Varvaro. He shared that he met her in early 2024 on the ‘sugar daddy’ app, Seeking, and they dated for four months while she was working as a program analyst for FEMA. 

She had just completed a doctorate program in Homeland Security the prior year.

The man said they dated between December 2024 and April 2025, spending most of their time together in his home state of New Jersey, while she commuted to Washington, DC. 

At the time, he said, she was pursuing a ‘dream job’ with the CIA, but was passed over.

Meanwhile, she was waiting to get onboarded to the new executive position with DHS.

The businessman said Varvaro would often speak with him about Ingrassia and even sent him a photo of the two hanging out together. 

The photo, shared with the Daily Mail, was taken on January 14, 2025, and shows Varvaro holding a glass of wine alongside Ingrassia and former Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, who is holding up a Diet Coke can.

At some point in their relationship the businessman became suspicious of his lover’s relationship with Ingrassia.

‘When I confronted her saying, ‘You’re f**king that guy Paul,’ she didn’t openly admit it,’ the  50-year-old construction manager told the Daily Mail. ‘But she didn’t deny it either.’

He said he and Varvaro split up in April 2025. 

Varvaro’s relationship with Ingrassia continued, and came under scrutiny that July, when Ingrassia allegedly arranged to share a Ritz Carlton hotel room with her during a DHS gathering in Orlando.

Politico broke the story in October, reporting that Ingrassia’s then unnamed lower-level colleague found out Vavaro didn’t have her own room when she checked in, initially protested the arrangement, and then ended up sleeping in a separate bed.

Ingrassia was investigated but the woman who the Daily Mail can now identify as Varvaro later withdrew a complaint, the outlet reported. Varvaro, however, denied ever making a complaint or accusing Ingrassia of any wrongdoing and insisted she never felt uncomfortable around her longtime friend.

It was a few months later, in December 2024, that Robert Bianchi, a wealthy software engineer with millions of dollars in government contracts, met Varvaro on the popular dating app Hinge.

Bianchi told the Daily Mail that Varvaro spoke with him about the hotel controversy, acknowledging she was the mystery woman, but insisting nothing untoward happened that night.

‘She said she’d spent nights with him in a hotel room before that incident in Florida, so it wasn’t a big deal for her,’ Bianchi said.

In comments to Politico she described her relationship with Ingrassia as platonic. But Bianchi says Ingrassia told him Ingrassia did make her feel uncomfortable at times.

‘Julia said Ingrassia was madly in love with her,’ Bianchi recalled. 

Another DHS insider told the Daily Mail that Ingrassia was ‘pining after her.’

‘Julia is beautiful and Paul is Paul,’ the source said. ‘He had a lot of power in personnel decision making. He could help her get to where she wanted to go and she was not the type to turn that down or shy away from it.’

Ingrassia and Varvaro have publicly denied any wrongdoing.

Ingrassia’s lawsuit against Politico includes an interview Varvaro gave to the outlet stating that the ‘outside party’ who raised concerns about the hotel arrangement had ‘misunderstood’ the situation and that it was ‘a lot of gossip and that’s it.’

‘Yes, we were friends which is why I never reported anything in the first place,’ she messaged the reporter, according to the court files.

The lawsuit references a time Ingrassia sent her a gift and flowers, prompting her to reply: ‘You’re so sweet Pauly cakes thank you,’ adding a heart emoji.

The case exhibits also include a note Varvaro wrote to Ingrassia with DHS letterhead stating: ‘Have a great day Big Boss Daddy!’

The lawsuit states that Ingrassia had met her years earlier through friends and affirms that they’d stop by each other’s offices at work and meet up outside work socially.

It also includes a transcript of Varvaro’s interview with Politico, during which she acknowledged she had shared a hotel room with him before, stating: ‘Yeah, we have as friends in the past, so that’s why I was not uncomfortable with it.’

Varvaro herself also shared pictures and video of them together on social media, while they’ve liked, retweeted, and commented on each other’s stream of postings.

In October 2024, weeks before Trump’s re-election, Varvaro posted a video showing her schmoozing with Ingrassia — soon to be White House liaison to DHS — poolside at Mar-a-Lago, sipping cocktails while promoting a movie about culture wars.

That same month, Varvaro posted another picture of them posing at a Trump campaign event in New York, Varvaro clutching a red, white, and blue MAGA jacket and handbag, and Ingrassia sporting a MAGA hat.

Robert Bianchi filed his Inspector General complaint in early April.

Hours after the Daily Mail broke the sugar daddy story, Homeland Security acted.

‘Julia Varvaro is on administrative leave as a result of the investigation, and she is no longer serving in her capacity as Deputy Assistant Secretary at DHS,’ a spokesperson confirmed. 

Ingrassia is now serving as Acting General Counsel for the US General Services Administration, leading a team of attorneys focused on implementing the president’s executive orders.

Last week, the Daily Mail revealed Ingrassia, who has a history of inflammatory remarks, is once again under fire after newly leaked texts exposed his anti-Semitic rant against fellow Republican, Randy Fine. 

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Fine said: ‘I hope these text messages are fake. But if they are not, I know President Trump has a zero tolerance for antisemitism and will fire those involved immediately.’ Ingrassia’s lawyer said, ‘These accusations against Mr. Ingrassia are false and fabricated.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Ingrassia and Varvaro for comment. 

Ingrassia’s lawyer responded: ‘Any reporting based on unnamed sources spouting fake claims that are impossible to verify, and who do not even know Mr. Ingrassia, should be completely dismissed as nonsense. 

‘The far left media is failing because it routinely traffics in lies and misinformation to generate fake scandals about competent and loyal government officials who are working hard to make this country great again.’

Varvaro responded: ‘These ‘unnamed sources’ are ridiculous. Pushing fabricated stories based on anonymous sources or by those acting maliciously sets a dangerous precedent where anyone can make up claims about someone they dislike and have it treated as news.’