Trump Chalks Up Joe Kent Resignation to a Brain Smarts Issue

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced on Tuesday that he was resigning from his post due to his lack of belief in the Trump administration’s justification for going to war with Iran.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent said in a statement that he posted on Twitter today. A far-right extremist, Kent appears to represent a growing faction of Trump’s base of supporters who were there with President Trump all the way — until he got the U.S. involved in another war in the Middle East. It was, of course, the sort of thing he campaigned against, and, among many other concerns, it has sent gas prices soaring amid an already-ongoing affordability crisis that is impacting most Americans.

While Kent is hardly an adequate martyr for resistance warriors (more on that below), Trump, of course, responded to news of his resignation by insulting the guy’s intelligence. Despite having nominated Kent to the counterterrorism position a year ago, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that he has always thought that Kent was “weak on security,” saying “we don’t want those people” in the administration, referencing people who have said there is not credible evidence to suggest that Iran was a threat to the continental United States.

“They’re not smart people, or they’re not savvy people,” Trump said. “Iran was a tremendous threat.”

And though Democrats may feel Kent makes a good point or two, they opposed his nomination to the counterterrorism position and are not likely to make common cause any time soon. That’s because, as TPM has reported, Kent has a long and colorful history of ties to prominent Nazi sympathizers and is someone who has developed a public persona espousing far-right, extremist views. He believes antifa are “foot soldiers” tied to Democratic politicans who want to murder people. He’s anti-trans, wants to defund the FBI and is a supporter of the constitutional sheriffs movement, which is popular among white supremacists and anti-government extremists. He thinks that the government was behind the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and was a COVID denier. He’s also anti-vax and, when running for Congress in 2023, shared the stage with people who espoused support for the “three percenter” militia groups.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) — the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been vocal about the fact that he has not seen intelligence that suggests that Iran was a threat to the U.S. — told the AP that Kent is right about one thing.

“I strongly disagree with many of the positions he has espoused over the years, particularly those that risk politicizing our intelligence community,” Warner said. “But on this point, he is right: There was no credible evidence of an imminent threat from Iran that would justify rushing the United States into another war of choice in the Middle East.”

— Nicole LaFond

If You Joined Our Substack Live…

…then thank you for tuning in to our discussion!

Today I was joined by TPM reporter Khaya Himmelman in a Substack Live event where we discussed Khaya’s coverage of Trump’s attacks on election administration so far this year, as his Justice Department attempts to bully states into handing over sensitive voter data and as he tries to force the Senate to pass a sweeping voter suppression bill.

If you liked what you heard/saw, make sure you subscribe to Khaya’s newsletter, The Franchise, here. You can also watch a video of the convo below:

— Nicole LaFond

Boasberg Wants to Be Notified When Trump Admin Fails to Indict

After the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. failed in its attempt to bring charges against six Democratic members of Congress for posting a video on social media that encouraged U.S. servicemembers to not follow illegal orders, U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg would like to be notified when a grand jury declines to indict the defendants the Trump administration wants it to.

Boasberg has issued a new rule requiring the judiciary to be notified when efforts to indict orginiate as a grand jury investigation, according to NBC News. The rule will be in place for 120 days and maybe longer.

More from NBC:

“This court finds that notification should be provided to the duty magistrate judge whenever a grand jury fails to concur in an indictment, regardless of whether the defendant has already been charged,” he said.

The new policy, dated March 4, clarifies that even if a prosecutor decides to drop the case after a failed prosecution, the magistrate judge must be notified of the unsuccessful prosecution attempts.

Boasberg’s order requires that the grand jury foreperson “promptly and in writing report the lack of concurrence to the duty magistrate judge under seal,” and that those notifications be maintained in the confidential files of the clerk’s office.

— Nicole LaFond

The SAVE America Act Marathon Begins

Senate Republicans on Tuesday afternoon voted to launch what is expected to be a lengthy debate on the SAVE America Act — a sweeping voter suppression bill that Republicans claim will address the myth of non-citizens voting in federal elections. 

The 51-48 vote to start debate was largely party-line. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted against starting debate and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) did not vote. The Senate is expected to continue debate for several days, likely into next week, with some late-night and weekend sessions.

Though the SAVE Act debate is expected to be lengthy, it will still fall short of what far-right proponents of the bill have been calling for.

For weeks now, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who is sponsoring the bill, President Donald Trump and other far-right supporters of the SAVE America Act have been calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to invoke a “talking filibuster.” The method, rarely used in modern times, would force Senate Democrats to continuously hold the Senate floor by debating the bill in question in order to delay and avoid voting on the bill itself under the chamber’s 60-vote legislative threshold. But that tactic could hold up the Senate floor for a very long time, eating up months of the legislative calendar. It would also give Democrats opportunities to offer amendments, forcing vulnerable Republicans to vote on issues they may not want to go on the record on.

Thune has said, for weeks, that Republicans don’t have the votes to pass the SAVE Act or stick together through a talking filibuster. Though senators have reportedly planned for several days of marathon sessions, leadership is expected to invoke the existing Senate rules and hold a vote that requires a supermajority at some point. 

During the process, Thune is also expected to call up several amendments — including ones that would accommodate Trump’s calls for bans on certain types of mail-in voting, as well as unrelated restrictions for transgender athletes and gender-affirming treatment for minors. This will largely block Democrats from being able to call up their own amendments.

— Emine Yücel

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