Joe Kent, a top adviser to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and nominee to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, directed a rewrite of American intelligence so it would not contradict President Donald Trump‘s narrative.
Gabbard acknowledged in a March 24 email, as reported first by The New York Times and then Reuters, that the Venezuelan government did not specifically direct activities of a gang of individuals the Trump Administration used to justify deporting immigrants. Gabbard argued that the connection was “common sense.”
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, which scholars argue requires a connection to a foreign government if a U.S. president is to use the legislation, and claimed Tren de Aragua coordinated activities in the United States with the Venezuelan government.
Reuters reported that Kent asked National Intelligence Council Chief Michael Collins and other DNI officials to “rethink” an intelligence assessment that contradicted Trump’s claim.
“I would like to understand how any IC [intelligence community] element arrived at the conclusion that the Venezuelan government doesn’t support and did not orchestrate TDA operating in the U.S.,” Kent said in the March 24 email. If Venezuela were “flooding our nation” with violent criminals it would be considered a hostile nation by the U.S.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted the claim by Trump was correct because it was “common sense.”
Officials familiar with the email told Reuters that subsequent emails included Kent stating that Gabbard required being “protected” during the rewriting process.
Collins and his vice chair Maria Langan-Riekhof were publicly accused by Gabbard’s office of politicizing intelligence and removed from their positions last week. Collins had refused to rewrite the intelligence.
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner of Virginia said in a statement yesterday that the revelations about Kent are “deeply disturbing, disqualifying and frankly, dangerous. This was a blatant attempt to politicize national security to appease a president who has repeatedly shown contempt for facts and for the intelligence professionals sworn to defend this country.”
According to Warner, the DNI has opposed “deep state” manipulation of intelligence, but now Americans learn that Gabbard’s closest aide and Trump’s pick for a sensitive role in government actively pushed to distort intelligence to reflect a political narrative.
“This is unacceptable. The Senate should immediately halt consideration of Mr. Kent’s nomination to lead NCTC, and the Senate Intelligence Committee has an obligation to conduct rigorous oversight to determine whether Kent or other Trump officials have attempted to politically interfere with other assessments,” Warner said.
Warner said that national security is at risk when intelligence is manipulated to fit a political agenda.
“Our ability to prevent terrorist attacks, counter adversaries, and make sound decisions is only as good as the accuracy and integrity of the intelligence that informs it. Our intelligence agencies must be permitted to speak truth to power, not twist the truth to serve power,” Warner said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
