BERLIN — Hungarian media reported Thursday that former White House aide Sebastian Gorka, a Hungarian citizen, was listed as "wanted" for arrest on the website of the country's police.
The entry listed few details, but it appeared to indicate that the warrant stemmed from an incident of "firearm or ammunition abuse" and was issued in September 2016, less than two months before President Trump's election victory. The warrant has apparently remained active since that time, which includes Gorka's brief tenure as a White House adviser on counterterrorism.
It remained unclear when the crime was believed to have been committed, but Hungarian website 444, which first reported the warrant, said that it could have taken place in 2009 according to details on the police site.
On Twitter, Gorka rejected reports on Thursday that he was connected to any 2009 incident, writing that "I moved to America in 2008." He told the Washington Examiner that a BuzzFeed report on the warrant was "more #FAKENEWS." He did not address whether the warrant itself exists. Gorka did not respond to calls and text messages from The Washington Post seeking comment.
Gorka's date of birth and other personal information match those on the Hungarian police website, but as of Thursday evening, it remained unclear whether it correctly describes the current status of the warrant. Calls to Hungary's interior ministry and its international communications office were not returned. Similar requests for comment by Hungarian media were also not answered. 444 reported that an unnamed official did not provide further details on the nature or timing of the incident the warrant was based on.
Gorka was born in London but holds Hungarian and U.S. citizenship through naturalization. He was considered a close ally of former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who left Trump's staff in August, one week before Gorka. Both men had previously worked at Breitbart News.
In an unrelated incident, TSA officials intercepted Gorka at Reagan National Airport in early 2016 as he attempted to bring a firearm onto a plane. A Virginia judge later dismissed the charge.
Max J. Rosenthal in Washington contributed to this report.
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