The far-right former Green Beret has been credibly accused of brazenly trying to politicize intelligence. Senate Republicans voted to confirm him anyway.
Joe Kent is a Jan. 6 conspiracy theorist with ties to right-wing extremists, who’s been credibly accused of trying to politically manipulate intelligence.
Senate Republicans — including the “moderates†— confirmed him to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-31T12:16:26.978Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/joe-kent-republican-confirmed-senate-national-counterterrorism-center-rcna221923
With this in mind, it might not have been especially surprising when the White House tapped Joe Kent to serve as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He did, after all, run two failed campaigns for the U.S. House in the state of Washington in 2022 and 2024 following a career in the military and CIA........
Despite — or perhaps, because of — this record, the Republican has spent recent months working as the acting chief of staff to Tulsi Gabbard, the national intelligence director, while waiting for his Senate confirmation vote. In this role, he’s been accused of brazenly trying to politicize intelligence, allegedly ordering analysts to “rewrite” intelligence assessments to help the White House.
Under the traditional rules of politics, accusations such as these from U.S. intelligence professionals, bolstered by documentary evidence, would’ve led the president to pull Kent’s nomination. But in 2025, Trump stuck with his nominee anyway and told Senate Republicans to confirm him, and GOP senators did as they were told.
As The Seattle Times reported when Trump nominated Kent, the counterterrorism center the Republican will now lead “coordinates the nation’s strategy against terrorism and maintains a national repository of known and suspected terrorists. It operates as a partnership of organizations including the CIA, FBI and Defense Department.”
The president’s recent record on counterterrorism has been awful. With Kent leading the National Counterterrorism Center, it’s difficult to be optimistic that the administration’s handling of the issue will improve any time soon.
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