Washington’s Joe Kent talks ‘Signal’ chat, Jan. 6 at first confirmation hearing

Former Washington congressional candidate Joe Kent—President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Counterterrorism Center—sat for a confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, asked him about the “Signal” chat, in which Kent and others discussed details about an attack on Houthi militia.

That chat inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

“You’re still making the statement, none of that was classified?” Warner asked.

“There’s no classified information in the chat,” Kent said. “The chat and all the circumstances around it are currently under ongoing litigation. So there’s not much I can say, Senator.”

Warner also asked Kent if he was using a personal phone or a government phone.

“There’s currently ongoing litigation, Senator, so I really can’t give any more details,” Kent said.

“I’m pretty disappointed by that answer,” Warner replied.

He went on to ask if Kent’s device had been scanned for malware.

“We followed all the security procedures and took all security precautions,” Kent said.

Kent was also asked about the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

“So you’ve said on Twitter that the FBI and the intelligence community were involved in planning and directing the riot. Is that correct?” asked Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

“Sounds like something I said, yeah,” Kent replied.

“And what evidence do you have for that claim?” Kelly asked.

“So we’ve already identified that there were multiple confidential human informants run by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies that were present in the crowd that day, directing, removing barriers, those types of things,” Kent said.

Kent lost two elections to Washington U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents the state’s 3rd District.

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