"All initial reports are false"

The White House will not officially comment on the bombing of a Minnesota mosque because it may be a hate crime faked by a liberal, according to Trump national security adviser Sebastian Gorka.

An as-of-yet unidentified individual threw a makeshift bomb through the window of a mosque in Minnesota Saturday, and Gorka was asked on MSNBC Monday if the White House will comment. Gorka said that the White House will “absolutely” comment once there is a finalized investigation into the incident.

“There’s a great rule: All initial reports are false,” Gorka said. “You have to check them and find out who the perpetrators are. We’ve had a series of crimes committed, alleged hate crimes by right wing individuals in the last six months that turned out to be prop propagated by the left. Let’s allow the local authorities to provide their assessment and then the White House will make its comments.”

But Trump has, in the past, commented on attacks without full information, including a recent June attack in the Philippines, which may have been a robbery gone wrong.

There had been rumors that Gorka was a Nazi sympathizer, but Gorka dismissed them during a softball interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in February.

“Like Reince, like Bannon, like Jared, like Ivanka, like the president’s children, like Kellyanne, like Steve Miller, you, too, have come under fire,” Hannity said. “I just wanted to give you a chance to respond, because I know you’re being attacked unfairly… Even people suggesting you’re a Nazi sympathizer. What is your reaction?”

“I think we’re doing our job very well, don’t you, Sean? If this is the best they can do,” Gorka said. “I just find it amusing. My father was nine years old when World War II started. He lived through the siege of Budapest. He was put in prison by the communist dictators. And I’m the guy who’s some kind of extremist?”

The Nazi connection

But in mid-March, Forward, a Jewish-American publication, reported that Gorka was indeed some kind of extremist, a sworn member of a Nazi-allied group known as Vitézi Rend. According to the State Department, the group was “under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany” during World War II.

Leaders of Vitézi Rend told Forward of Gorka’s ties, and the revelation created a firestorm of controversy for a White House that had already, on multiple occasions, been accused of harboring and pandering to white supremacists.

Members of Congress called for Gorka to be suspended and investigated, and a number of activist groups quickly called for Trump to fire Gorka. Trump did neither of those things, but then Gorka, who had so often graced cable news and radio, went dark.

Gorka reappeared in early April, when he made an appearance on Fox News to discuss missile strikes in Syria. He was not asked about his ties to Vitézi Rend.

A few days later, he appeared on Hannity’s show, where Hannity treated Gorka with kid gloves. Hannity praised Trump’s decision to to attack Syria saying, “He did draw a line and said, ‘We cannot allow this moral boundary to be crossed.’ To me, that’s the right thing to do. Your answer.”

“You’re absolutely right, Sean,” Gorka said.

The two chatted for several minutes. Hannity did not ask about Vitézi Rend.

“Dr. Gorka, good to see you,” Hannity said. “Thank you.”

The next weekend, Gorka made another appearance on Fox, on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. The pair discussed North Korea. Other than occasional appearances on the very friendly network, Gorka kept quiet.

He was thrust back in the news cycle when, on April 30, The Washington Examiner reported that Gorka would accept a position outside the White House. CNN confirmed the report the next day, but later that week Gorka called the reports “very fake news.”

Around the same time, Gorka was spotted at the White House by some reporters, who asked if he was being forced out.

“Do I look like I’m going?” he responded.