***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks on Senate Floor***
Washington, D.C. —Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke out on the Senate floor against the nomination of Joe Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. Senator Murray slammed Kent for his lack of experience and long history of promoting conspiracy theories and white supremacist views, and urged her colleagues to vote against his nomination.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on the Senate Floor, are below:
“Thank you, M. President.
“The National Counterterrorism Center plays a crucial role keeping our country safe. The agency is responsible for collecting and analyzing intelligence to help protect our nation from terrorist threats. It is sober, serious work that requires a level head and a commitment to putting the mission before politics.
“Which is why I am deeply alarmed that Republicans are charging ahead to put it under the thumb of a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views, and is patently unqualified for this important role in just about every way imaginable. You are supposed to pick people with qualifications, but just about everything we know about Joe Kent is disqualifying for this role and alarming.
“There’s his track record chumming it up with white supremacists, from discussing campaign strategy with avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes, to giving an interview to a guy who has defended Hitler, to rallying with the founder of a far-right paramilitary group, and let’s not forget the Proud Boy that he hired as a consultant!
“And it’s not just his connections, there’s his own deeply bigoted statements like: claiming Islam is ‘based on conquest at its core,’ and pushing racist ‘replacement theory’ rhetoric.
“That is alarming stuff. Let’s be frank here: These are white supremacist views—and they should have absolutely no place in our federal government.
“And then there is his track record of politicizing intelligence, like when he was caught red handed pushing to change intelligence reports—facts be damned—so they would agree with Trump and attack Biden.
“Joe Kent also has a track record of peddling conspiracies and attacking law enforcement, from saying our country is at war with ‘leftist cabal,’ or calling to completely defund the FBI and ATF, agencies that keep Americans safe from foreign and domestic threats, or pushing the offensive and false conspiracy that the January 6th insurrection was somehow a deep state plot.
“You want to know who in the federal government was behind the insurrection? How about we start with man in the White House who promised to march to the Capitol with them? How about we start with the President who calls rioters patriots? How about we start with the guy who pardoned violent cop beaters—en masse?
“If you cannot be honest with the American people about January 6th—you have no business being trusted with protecting our democracy. It should be that simple.
“And let’s not forget—Joe Kent was on the infamous Signal-gate chat—where classified attack plans were discussed with no regard for security, or law, not to mention the safety of our servicemembers.
“You know what he had to say about that? He said no classified information was discussed. That was the answer he gave at his Senate confirmation hearing.
“Now it’s obvious that answer was a complete lie. Last week, the Pentagon’s watchdog confirmed there was classified information in that Signal chat.
“So, was Kent being intentionally dishonest? Or does he not understand what classified information is?
“Either way—it is completely disqualifying. Which—as I think I’ve made clear—is pretty much the pattern here.
“So here is my warning to Republicans, confirming someone like Joe Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center makes about as much sense as putting Donald Trump in charge of releasing the Epstein files after all that we have learned.
“We have all the evidence we could ever need—in the public record, right now—that he is not going to do the right thing. And we have no reason to believe he will do this important, high-stakes, work in a serious, impartial manner—let alone a competent one.
“So, M. President, I am here to urge all of my colleagues to join me in doing exactly what people back in Washington state have done each time they were asked to trust Joe Kent, vote no.”
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