A longtime personal assistant to President Donald Trump, John McEntee, was fired this week because of an unspecified issue in his background.
McEntee was escorted out of the White House on Monday, two administration officials told the Wall Street Journal. Trump's re-election campaign announced he would then join the campaign as a senior adviser of operations.
McEntee had worked for Trump since the beginning of his 2016 presidential campaign and was frequently by his side, making sure the presdient had what he needed and received messages.
Although McEntee wasn't allowed to collect his belongings before leaving, he reportedly indicated to colleagues that his termination was due to a background issue.
The Trump administration has been reevaluating the backgrounds and security clearances of many employees after a controversy in February surrounding former staff secretary Rob Porter. Porter resigned from his White House position after it was revealed he had been accused of domestic violence by his two ex-wives, accusations that had delayed the final approval of his security clearance.
Word of McEntee's firing comes shortly after the news broke that Trump was replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Mike Pompeo.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders refused to comment on McEntee, telling the Journal, "we don’t comment on personnel issues," and McEntee did not return a call seeking comment.
CNN reported later Tuesday morning that, according to a source, he was being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security for "serious financial crimes." The source told CNN the charges were not "Trump-related."
NEWS: Johnny McEntee was fired because he is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for serious financial crimes, a source familiar with his firing tells CNN.
This source says the charges are not Trump related.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 13, 2018
New: Trump's personal aide Johnny McEntee was fired because he is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for serious financial crimes, a source familiar with his firing tells @kaitlancollins
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) March 13, 2018
UPDATE: 11:19 A.M.: This article was updated with CNN's reporting about McEntee being under investigation for financial crimes.