55 House Members to Trump: Fire Gorka

Engel Leads Group of Lawmakers Calling for Removal of Unfit Advisor

May 2, 2017

WASHINGTON—A group of 55 Democratic Members of Congress today urged President Donald J. Trump to dismiss Sebastian Gorka from his Administration. Leading the effort were Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Rep. Bradley S. Schneider (D-IL); Rep. Jerrold B. Nadler (D-NY); Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA); Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa; Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee; Rep. Juan Vargas (D-TX); Rep. Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA); and Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), Vice Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Since January, Sebastian Gorka has advised President Trump from the White House on issues relating to national security. But Mr. Gorka’s ties to several anti-Semitic groups in Hungary such as the Jobbik party; the Hungarian Guard; and Vitézi Rend, a group listed by the U.S. State Department as having been “under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany during World War II,” are deeply troubling, and recent reports suggest Mr. Gorka will likely be moving out of the White House to a different role in the Administration soon.

“As Members of the U.S. Congress who care deeply about fighting anti-Semitism at home and abroad, we urge you to immediately dismiss senior White House counterterrorism advisor Sebastian Gorka. Based on recent revelations about Mr. Gorka’s public support for and membership in several anti-Semitic and racist groups in Hungary, he is clearly unfit to serve in any position of responsibility in your Administration,” the Members wrote.

The Members continued, “Mr. Gorka’s associations with these groups are deeply troubling. We urge you to fire him immediately, and to make clear that you condemn all forms of anti-Semitism and intolerance within our country and abroad.”

The full text of the letter can be found below.

Dear Mr. President:

As Members of the U.S. Congress who care deeply about fighting anti-Semitism at home and abroad, we urge you to immediately dismiss senior White House counterterrorism advisor Sebastian Gorka. Based on recent revelations about Mr. Gorka’s public support for and membership in several anti-Semitic and racist groups in Hungary, he is clearly unfit to serve in any position of responsibility in your Administration.

Mr. Gorka has ties to former prominent members of the anti-Semitic Jobbik party in Hungary. An aspiring politician himself, Mr. Gorka and two influential members of the Jobbik party founded the New Democratic Coalition, a Hungarian party referred to by watchdog organizations as blatantly racist and anti-Semitic.

Compounding this troubling history is the recent revelation of Mr. Gorka’s public support for the Hungarian Guard (Magyar Gárda), a militia created by the Jobbik party. The Hungarian Guard was well known for its anti-Semitism, at times referring to Jews as “Zionist rats” and “locusts,” and calling Hungarian Jews “nation-destroyers.” This vile paramilitary group was sued and ultimately disbanded by Hungarian authorities after it was determined that the group threatened the human rights of minorities.  When asked in a broadcast interview if he supported the move to establish this militia, Mr. Gorka responded: “That is so,” and then proceeded to explain that the group filled “a big societal need.” Mr. Gorka has also written pieces for a far-right, anti-Semitic Hungarian publication Magyar Demokrata, whose editor-in-chief was one of the Guard’s founding members.

In addition, there has been extremely concerning reports that Mr. Gorka was formerly a sworn member of the Nazi-allied, far-right Hungarian group known as Vitézi Rend. This group is listed by the U.S. State Department as having been "under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany during World War II,” and its members are classified as inadmissible to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Mr. Gorka’s associations with these groups are deeply troubling. We urge you to fire him immediately, and to make clear that you condemn all forms of anti-Semitism and intolerance within our country and abroad.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

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