Controversial advisor claims he ‘did not resign’ -- even tho he no longer works at White House

Late Friday night, controversial White House advisor Sebastian Gorka leaked his resignation letter to The Federalist, claiming he could help President Donald Trump better from outside.

The White House is disputing that account.

"Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House," was the official statement the pool received. The White House requested the quote be attributed to "a White House Official" (sic).

That too, is now in dispute.

Politics lacks precise language to describe a situation where somebody is clearly no longer employed, but there is debate as to whether the cause was a resignation or a firing. Hollywood, however, has long dealt with such situations and has created it's own terminology.

The VarietySlanguage Dictionary describes 'ankle' thusly, "a classic (and enduring) Variety term meaning to quit or be dismissed from a job, without necessarily specifying which; instead, it suggests walking; 'Alan Smithee has ankled his post as production prexy at U.'”

This is not the first time there has been a White House dispute over whether someone was fired or quit.

Last week, every single member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities resigned in protest over Trump's Charlottesville response.

When the White House subsequently claimed that they had planned on eliminating the department, actor Kal Penn laughed off the claim on MSNBC.

“We broke up with him first,” Penn noted, with a grin. “He is not allowed to break up with us after that, I learned that in fourth grade.”