Democratic senators press on whether White House aide under probe

[August 22, 2017]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Democratic U.S. senators wrote to senior administration officials on Monday seeking confirmation on whether White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka is under criminal investigation for failing to disclose his membership in a Hungarian neo-Nazi organization.

"As a senior counterterrorism advisor, Mr. Gorka is in a position of great importance and public trust. The American people are entitled to know if a senior White House official is under criminal investigation," Senators Dick Durbin, Richard Blumenthal and Benjamin Cardin said in the letter.

They said the letter was a follow-up to a letter they sent in March calling for an investigation of whether Gorka had "falsified his naturalization application or otherwise illegally procured American citizenship."

Gorka "reportedly concealed his membership in the Vitezi Rend, a far-right anti-Semitic Hungarian organization with historical ties to the Nazis, when he applied for U.S. citizenship," the senators said in Monday's letter.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The senators' letter was addressed to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Elaine Duke, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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