Senate Intelligence Committee Obtains Emails Showing NCTC Nominee Kent Asked Analysts to Rewrite TdA Assessment

The Senate Intelligence Committee on May 21, 2025 disclosed emails obtained from the ODNI showing that Joe Kent, President Trump's nominee to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, had contacted National Intelligence Council analysts asking them to revise their Tren de Aragua assessment. In the emails, Kent asked analysts to rewrite the document "so this document is not used against the DNI or POTUS." The disclosure provided documentary evidence that political pressure had been applied to career analysts before the assessment was finalized. Kent had not been confirmed by the Senate at the time of the emails. The Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Democrats including Senator Mark Warner, used the emails to argue that the NIC firings were retaliatory rather than performance-based. The emails also raised questions about whether NCTC, which dissented from the NIC's majority finding through the FBI, had coordinated its dissent with political appointees.