Tim Clark and Gavin Smith's departures come after HHS leadership spent months embarrassed by stories about political appointees' controversial behavior on social media. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo Officials depart HHS after incendiary social media posts

Two HHS political appointees who worked on President Donald Trump’s campaign were forced out this week in response to a series of inflammatory tweets and other behavior detailed in a recent POLITICO report.

Tim Clark, the agency's White House liaison, is resigning and will depart the agency in the coming weeks, according to an internal email sent to staff and shared with POLITICO. He has been replaced by Trent Morse, who joined HHS from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.


Gavin Smith, a policy adviser who used his Twitter account to publicly mock elected officials and reporters, also departed HHS this week. Three individuals with knowledge of the situation said he was escorted from the building, but an HHS official said on Friday that Smith resigned.

Clark and Smith's departures come after HHS leadership spent months embarrassed by stories about political appointees' controversial behavior on social media. The moves also reflect Secretary Alex Azar consolidating his power five months after succeeding Tom Price, who resigned after POLITICO reported on his extensive use of private charter jets and left behind a fractious leadership team.

“He’s really no-nonsense, highly professional guy. And he thinks everyone should be, too,” said a colleague who’s advised Azar on his strategy. “There could be more changes to come as the secretary gets fully on board and staffed up.”

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Clark was the California chairman of Trump's campaign and became the health department's chief liaison with the White House, a crucial gatekeeper for the agency's policies and staffing. Clark worked to hire and protect a number of Trump campaign veterans who were allowed to remain on the job after their social media posts became public, according to multiple sources inside the agency. Those included Jon Cordova, a principal deputy assistant secretary for administration who previously spread conspiracy theories such as Khizr Khan — the Gold Star father who spoke at the Democratic National Convention and criticized Trump — was a Muslim Brotherhood agent, as well as posting years of controversial comments about race and religion. Cordova was initially allowed to remain in his role — which involved overseeing the agency's human resources — but subsequently demoted to senior adviser after Azar brought in new leadership to run his office this spring.

HHS also retained Ximena Barreto, who had been serving as a deputy communications director, after reports that she spread conspiracy theories including that Hillary Clinton was engaged in a child-sex ring at a Washington pizza shop, was involved in the murder of Democratic aide Seth Rich and employed pedophiles in her campaign. Barreto was subsequently reassigned to the agency's Administration for Children & Families.

HHS confirmed Clark and Smith's departures. “Mr. Clark has long planned this position change and delayed that move for several months to assure a smooth transition for the new secretary," said Peter Urbanowicz, the agency's chief of staff. "He has been a huge help and strong partner in our success.”

The agency did not respond to request for comment about the current status of Cordova and Barreto. CNN and Mediaite first reported on Cordova and Barreto's social media indiscretions earlier this year.

A number of former Trump campaign officials placed at HHS and other agencies had little to no prior government experience and have struggled to adapt to the federal bureaucracy, clashing with career staff as well as other political appointees. An HHS official also told POLITICO that the series of embarrassing stories about Cordova, Barreto and Smith's inflammatory social media posts — which were public — has raised questions about the initial vetting process in 2017.

Meanwhile, Trump campaign veterans and their allies contend that the agency's new political leadership — some of whom, like Azar, are veterans of the George W. Bush administration — is actively working to remove veterans of the Trump campaign.

While working on the Trump campaign, Clark sent tweets sharing allegations that Hillary Clinton's campaign paid people to incite violence at Trump's rallies; Democrats disputed the charges. Clark also repeatedly used a #SpiritCooking hashtag to promote his pro-Trump tweets, referencing allegations about Clinton campaign chief John Podesta engaging in Satanic practices.

Clark this week added a new disclaimer to his Twitter profile: "Retweets & use of hashtags do not imply endorsement of the message."

Smith last month identified himself as a Trump administration official on his personal Twitter account, which has more than 7,300 followers and was public until POLITICO profiled Smith and other officials’ use of social media. On the account, Smith mocked Republicans that he thought were insufficiently loyal to the president, calling Sen. Bob Corker “crazy” and Sen. Lindsey Graham “clueless." He also criticized at least 22 reporters and media outlets, tagging them in his tweets — including NBC's Chuck Todd (who Smith called "sleepy eyes"), The New York Times' Maggie Haberman ("a joke") and the entire Washington Post ("nauseating") — despite being detailed to the communications office, where he worked with reporters.

