Don’t give Joe Kent any kind of a pass just yet, because he’s still MAGA. And he’s about to become even more dangerous than he already was.
The DNI was under a microscope on Wednesday in the wake of the unexpected resignation letter bombshell released by the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent.
Tulsi “Hillary Told Us All About You” Gabbard was being grilled by the Senate Intelligence Committee and lied under oath yet again when being questioned by my Senator, Ron Wyden (D-OR). Senator Chutzpah here is the embodiment of “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” because he definitely stuck it to Tulsi.
It’s been fascinating to watch the MAGA reaction to Kent’s resignation unfold on Twitter, because Joe Kent wasn’t even on their radar before they were told what to say about him in their tweets.
The official message from the White House was, “Kent is a liar who was always weak on national security,” which is a weird thing to say about the person you hired to help oversee our national security. Another L for the world’s least successful businessman
Before Tuesday, Kent had been a MAGA darling and special favorite of Trump’s ever since they met at Kent’s wife’s Dignified Transfer in 2019, one of the few times Trump met the coffins of service people killed in action during his first term. Kent soon joined the Trump 2020 campaign and was a full-on America First MAGA mouthpiece, whom I dubbed “Rand Paul Lite” early on thanks to their resemblance in both looks and disregard for the truth.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, Kent positioned himself to run for Congress in Washington’s 3rd District — where I lived from 2001 until 2022 — to challenge then-Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), who had fallen out of favor with Trump after she voted for his second impeachment. Herrera Beutler famously testified that she was with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-FL, via Trump’s alimentary canal) in his office on January 6, 2021, when he called Trump at the White House and begged him to call off the MAGA crowd that was attempting to break into his office window.
“Well, Kevin,” Trump told him, “I guess some people are more upset about the election results than others.” And then hung up on him.
Ah, 2021, a time when Republicans quietly told the truth about Trump once he left office. That was a real thing that the media also fumbled back then.
In September 2021, I was writing for the now-defunct website Hill Reporter when I heard that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was being dispatched to appear with Joe Kent in Vancouver to boost his campaign. The full story has been archived, and once you’re done here, I’d appreciate it if you could take the time. But I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version here.
I’d arranged for an interview with both Gaetz and Kent for Labor Day via Kent’s campaign manager. We were set to meet at a coffee shop ahead of a planned private fundraiser, which would be followed by a rally at the Clark County Fairgrounds. The morning of the interview, I was told Gaetz wasn’t available, but Kent was still a go.
I was fully prepared, but Kent wasn’t ready for my competence. Kent, his tattoo sleeves partially covered by shirtsleeves even in the warm weather (SUS!), told me everything I needed to know about him by not answering the questions I asked him during our 40-minute interview, in which I repeatedly nailed him with these pesky things I brought with me called FACTS. We were only a couple of minutes in before he remarked, “Wow, I usually get softball questions.”
“Yeah, I don’t play softball,” I quipped.
My questions were enough for his campaign manager, who was furiously texting during the interview. Before the promised hour I’d arranged had elapsed, our conversation was cut short by Matt Braynard, a MAGA strategist and devoted J6er.
But I’d gleaned some very important info, mainly that there were already plans to challenge the results of the 2022 midterms, a full 14 months before a vote had been cast.
The fundraiser had been moved from a skate park (Matt Gaetz + teenagers = Bad Optics) to a private residence. Even though Kent had denounced the violence of January 6th in our interview, these were the kinds of bumper stickers on the cars of those who were welcome inside--unlike myself and my pal/bodyguard, Eugene.
There was also a heavy presence of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers at the very small rally, which wasn’t advertised, to both avoid protests as well as to keep the crowd to just “their” people--who threatened me.
Matt Gaetz quote-tweeted this from his then-official Congressional Twitter account. He used MAGA virtue signaling words like “triggered” and “Karen,” and then took his harassment of an American citizen even further by doing a segment about me on his “Firebrand” podcast. A sitting member of Congress used his platform to encourage his followers to “seek out” my social media, which they definitely did. What followed were weeks of targeted harassment, both online and off. Aside from getting multiple rape and death threats via every platform, there were calls and texts. Someone used Facebook Messenger to claim someone was on the way to film themselves killing me. Two hours later, a car was parked outside my apartment, and someone was taunting me from a burner phone, screaming, “COME OUTSIDE, TARA!”
Which I did not.
Law enforcement did nothing, not then and not when I reported being followed around town. House Ethics did nothing. The Florida Bar did nothing. Those tweets and two Firebrand episodes are still live.
Gaetz no longer has the protection of Congress, and I can only hope he’ll face charges for sex trafficking teenagers.
As for Joe Kent, keep your eye on him. Watch his friendship with Tucker Carlson. He’s still got those Nazi tattoos. He’s still dangerous, thanks to what he knows and what he believes. I’ve seen how he operates, up close and all too personal.