Not long after he announced his candidacy for president, Donald Trump took to Twitter to voice his grievances on an almost daily basis. While Trump has used the social media platform to attack a wide range of individuals, one of his advisers is looking to take legal actions against his own critic.
Trump's team on Twitter
Sebastian Gorka is a top adviser to Donald Trump, with the focus on foreign policy and terrorism. Gorka has been known to hold controversial views, especially in relation to the Middle East and Islamic terrorism. Michael S. Smith, a well-respected expert on counter-terrorism, has voiced his concern about Gorka being in the White House, and has done so on more than one occasion on Twitter.
In response, Gorka is looking to take potential legal action against Smith, which was elaborated on in detail in a February 23 article in Newsweek, and later in The Hill.
According to the original report in Newsweek, Sebastian Gorka called Michael S. Smith on the phone, and threatened to sue him over his remarks on Twitter. "I was like a deer in the headlights," Smith told Newsweek, explaining that he initially thought it was a prank, but then Gorka starting "threatening (him) with a lawsuit." The call was reportedly made using Gorka's private cell phone line, as opposed to an offical government phone or one in the White House.
Newsweek Exclusive: Listen to Controversial White House Terrorism Adviser Sebastian Gorka’s Angry Call to a Critic https://t.co/Wz6zkgq7Sl
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 23, 2017
After the threat was made clear, Smith then started recording the call in question.
"Gorka asserted my tweets about him merited examination by the White House legal counsel," Smith said, while explaining that the terrorism adviser was "threatening to entangle me in a legal battle for voicing my concerns on Twitter." Smith's tweets have been highly critical of Gorka, who he claims "doesn't know the enemies ideologies well enough to combat them," and is potentially "endangering the lives of Americans." As of press time, Gorka has not responded to the allegations against him.
Twitter trouble
While a top adviser in the White House is making threats over comments on the internet, Donald Trump continues to use social media as his number one source of communication. As his relationship with the mainstream media continues to crumble by the day, it's expected that Trump will only increase his presence on Twitter moving forward.
