WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, was fired and escorted from the White House on Monday after being denied a security clearance over financial problems in his background, according to senior administration officials and people close to the former aide. 
 
 People close to Mr. McEntee said problems related to online gambling and mishandling of his taxes prevented him from gaining the clearance necessary for the role. The Secret Service is investigating Mr. McEntee for those issues, according... 

 (CNN) President Donald Trump's longtime personal aide John 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 told CNN. 
 
 The charges are not related to the President, the source said. 
 
 Minutes after news of his departure broke, the Trump campaign announced McEntee would be joining the reelection effort as a senior adviser for campaign operations. 
 
 McEntee was escorted from the White House on Monday, three sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN. Two sources initially said McEntee was pushed out because of issues with his security clearance, but another source familiar with the matter later said he had been granted a permanent security clearance before was abruptly fired. 
 
 McEntee declined a CNN request to comment. 
 
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 John McEntee’s unlikely journey from UConn quarterback to a job in the White House as President Donald Trump’s body man came to a sudden end this week when he was fired amid reports of an investigation into his finances. 
 
 The Wall Street Journal first reported McEntee’s abrupt departure early Tuesday. The newspaper said he was escorted from the White House Monday afternoon without being allowed to collect his belongings. 
 
 According to The Journal, McEntee was denied a permanent security clearance due to financial problems in his background. The problems “related to online gambling and mishandling of his taxes,” and the Secret Service is investigating McEntee, the newspaper reported. 
 
 The White House declined to comment on McEntee’s departure. 
 
 McEntee, whose job as personal aide to the president gave him virtually unfettered access to the commander in chief, will remain in Trump’s orbit. Minutes after the news broke of his firing, Trump’s campaign said McEntee, who was originally hired by the campaign in August 2015, was being brought back as a senior adviser for campaign operations. 
 
 “As we build out our operations for the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 reelection campaign, we are pleased to welcome back two outstanding members of our 2016 team,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, said in a written statement announcing the hiring of McEntee and Katrina Pierson, who frequently appears as a surrogate for Trump on cable news. 
 
 McEntee, 27, is the latest Trump White House aide to lose his job after an overhaul of the Trump administration’s security clearance process. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly ordered the changes after reports that as many as 100 White House staffers were working with interim security clearances. 
 
 One of the people working under an interim security clearance was White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned last month after two of his ex-wives said he had abused them. His second wife had filed for an emergency protective order against him, raising questions about the vetting of White House staff. 
 
 Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote to the White House last month asking for information about the issue. 
 
 “This truly astonishing report about an individual who literally was with the president during almost all his waking hours and at his side when he was reading documents or hearing briefings of the most sensitive and secret kind should raise red flags about the culture of contempt for national security that this administration demonstrates again and again,” Blumenthal told The Courant Tuesday. 
 
 “This administration has to follow the rules,” he said. “If somebody cannot be cleared either because of domestic violence or gambling debts or any other problem that might make him susceptible to blackmail, their security clearance should be downgraded or they should probably be given responsibilities outside the White House.” 
 
 McEntee, who went by Johnny at UConn, was working at Fox News after graduation when he joined Trump’s campaign as a volunteer and quickly got hired to a full-time position. 
 
 “I bought into the message,” McEntee, a California native, told Bloomberg at the time of his decision to join Trump. “I was sick of the career politicians.” 
 
 After serving as trip director for the campaign McEntee was brought into the White House as Trump’s personal assistant, where he earned $115,000 a year. 
 
 The Wall Street Journal described his duties like this: 
 
 “Mr. McEntee wasn’t as well-known as the others, but had been a constant presence at Mr. Trump’s side for the past three years,” the newspaper reported. “He made sure Mr. Trump had markers to sign autographs, delivered messages to him in the White House residence and, over the weekend, ensured that the clocks in the White House residence were adjusted for daylight-saving time.” 
 
 McEntee’s career on the football field was unremarkable – he led the Huskies to a 5-7 record as a starter in 2011, throwing 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions – but he gained national acclaim for a YouTube video of elaborate trick-shot throws that has been viewed now more than 7 million times. 
 
 The video, uploaded in February 2011, shows McEntee climbing the scaffolding of UConn’s Shenkman Training Center and landing a football in a trash can 50 yards away and sinking a basket with a football thrown clear across Gampel Pavilion. 
 
 McEntee’s firing follows the departure of Greenwich native Hope Hicks, the White House communications director who, like McEntee, was one of Trump’s longest-serving aides. Also this week, West Hartford’s Justin Clark was promoted by Trump. The longtime Republican operative will be taking on duties as head of the Office of Public Liaison, according to Axios, a news site. 
 
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– Another White House departure is making headlines Tuesday, and it's one that President Trump won't be happy about. The president's personal assistant, John McEntee, was abruptly fired and escorted out of the White House over some kind of security clearance issue, reports the Wall Street Journal. White House officials won't provide details, but CNN reports that McEntee is under investigation by Homeland Security for "serious financial crimes" unrelated to the president. Almost immediately after losing his White House job, however, the 27-year-old McEntee was hired by the Trump campaign as an adviser. The Hartfort Courant has taken note of the news for an odd reason: It seems that McEntee once played quarterback for the University of Connecticut, and he posted a video of trick throws on YouTube back in 2011 that now has more than 7 million views. McEntee first joined the Trump campaign as a volunteer before being hired full time to serve as Trump's "body man." The Journal describes examples of his former duties: "He made sure Mr. Trump had markers to sign autographs, delivered messages to him in the White House residence and, over the weekend, ensured that the clocks in the White House residence were adjusted for daylight-saving time." (Trump also lamented the recent loss of Hope Hicks.)