WASHINGTON – Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted 52-44 to confirm Joe Kent to head the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC):

“In May, Congress received clear written evidence that Mr. Kent, while serving as chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, sought to manipulate intelligence to match a political narrative promoted by President Trump. His efforts to alter intelligence assessments in support of demonstrably false political claims is not only a gross violation of the solemn responsibility with which the intelligence community is charged, which is to speak truth to power regardless of politics, but it is also a threat to our ability to keep the nation safe. When intelligence is shaped to fit political agendas instead of hard facts, it blinds decision-makers to real threats, sows confusion among our allies, and emboldens our adversaries.

“With today’s party-line vote to confirm Mr. Kent to one of the nation’s most sensitive counterterrorism roles, the Senate missed an opportunity to hold the Trump administration accountable for openly politicizing intelligence – a precedent that, if left unchecked, threatens to erode trust in our intelligence agencies, compromise the integrity of national security assessments, and ultimately make Americans less safe.”

On May 21, the Senate Intelligence Committee received copies of emails indicating that Mr. Kent pressured career intelligence officials to revise and suppress analytical conclusions that contradicted public claims made by President Trump. Specifically, Kent pressed the National Intelligence Council (NIC) to rewrite findings about the relationship between Venezuela’s government and the criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) “so this document is not used against the DNI or POTUS,” and to emphasize supposed ties between the Venezuelan government and TDA. Despite the pressure, the April 7 assessment issued by the NIC reaffirmed the original conclusion that Venezuela’s government “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.” Shortly thereafter, the senior career analysts leading the NIC were dismissed from their positions by DNI Gabbard.

Sen. Warner spoke in opposition to Mr. Kent’s nomination on the Senate floor prior to the vote. Video of those remarks is available here.