- The Washington Times - Sunday, August 20, 2017

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that President Trump needs to do more “cleaning house” following the departure of chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon on Friday, calling for the firing of presidential advisers Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller.

“There’s certainly a lot pf people on the White House staff and NSC [National Security Council] staff that shouldn’t be there. People like Miller and Gorka and others who not only I think represent the same thing that Bannon did, but aren’t capable of doing the job well,” Rep. Adam Schiff on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Mr. Schiff first responded Friday to Mr. Bannon’s removal on Twitter, saying he was glad to see him leave the White House.

“But the problem persists, since the most profound source of division cannot be fired,” the California Democrat tweeted.

Mr. Bannon, who has been viewed as pushing a far-right agenda in the administration, returned to lead the conservative website Breitbart News hours after he left the White House. Mr. Bannon has said he resigned, while the White House said his departure was a mutual decision.

Citing two unnamed sources, Bloomberg News reported Friday that Mr. Trump next might boot his counterterrorism adviser Mr. Gorka, who, like Mr. Bannon, previously worked for Breitbart News.

The Progressive Campaign Change Committee is calling for the firing of Mr. Miller. It aired a commercial in Charlottesville, Virginia, after violent rallies there, painting Mr. Miller, Mr. Gorka and Mr. Bannon as white nationalists who must be removed from the administration.

Mr. Schiff told CNN on Sunday the more fundamental problem is at the very top the administration, after Mr. Trump said during a press conference on Tuesday there were “fine people” on both sides protesting during a white nationalist rally last weekend in Charlottesville, which resulted in the death of an anti-racism protester.

“What the president did this week was as if he stood on a line dividing the country and pushed to separate one America from another with all his might and that is night what this country needs,” said Mr. Schiff.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.

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