(JTA) — Sebastian Gorka, the Donald Trump aide accused of ties to a far-right Hungarian nationalist group, will reportedly be leaving the White House for another government position.
According to a report Sunday in the political website The Hill, citing an unnamed senior White House official, Gorka will be taking a position in another federal agency.
The Washington Examiner first reported that Gorka’s new position will be focused on the “war of ideas” against radical Islam. Gorka currently serves as a deputy assistant to President Trump, advising him on counter-terrorism.
The Washington Examiner did not provide further details about the new position, save that it will not be in the State Department.
Gorka has been serving on the Strategic Initiatives Group, an internal organization within the White House, and as a national security adviser. An unnamed source told the Examiner, however, that Gorka’s current position had always been meant to be temporary, as he waited for administration officials to create a terrorism-related position for him in another area of the government.
The reported move also comes amid suspicion that Gorka had not yet received the necessary security clearance to do his job. It also comes after an investigation by the Forward reported that Gorka, who is Hungarian, is a member of Historical Vitézi Rend. The group is a namesake of Vitézi Rend, a defunct order of merit that had existed as a state entity for 20 years until 1944 under the rule of Miklos Horthy, Hungary’s Nazi-allied leader. Vitézi Rend was disbanded, outlawed and ceased to exist in the 1940s following the World War II defeat of Nazi Germany.
Following the Forward’s investigation, Democratic Reps. Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey, both Jewish lawmakers from New York, sent a letter to Trump urging him to fire Sebastian Gorka. At least 18 Democratic representatives signed the letter.
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