Joe Kent submitted his resignation as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center in mid-March.
Unfortunately, Kent has now embraced a popular conspiracy among some on the right, which involves “just asking questions” regarding Israel and the murder of Charlie Kirk. Candace Owens has pushed that narrative for months despite repeatedly failing to provide evidence, and in some cases, being directly debunked.
In a crossing of the Rubicon moment, Kent recently said that he would testify at the trial of Tyler Robinson that the Trump administration improperly shut down the investigation into the murder to protect a “foreign nexus.”
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The following excerpt was provided by Michael Shellenberger, who conducted the interview.
The former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, says that the FBI did not properly investigate the assassination last fall of conservative leader Charlie Kirk. “The FBI was pretty forceful in saying we couldn’t investigate further,” he told Public. “I saw no action being taken.”
Tyler Robinson confessed to killing Kirk in a text message and a note to his trans-identified romantic partner. His defense team may now be able to use Kent’s allegations that the government is suppressing evidence and did not do a proper investigation to their advantage.
Kent said he knew that he might be called as a witness before he made his statements that a “foreign nexus” may have been involved in Kirk’s assassination. “I was definitely warned of that over and over again,” said Kent. “If I end up having to play that role, then I’ll do it. It’s not something I’m seeking.”
When pressed that his testimony could help the Robinson defense, Kent said, “Then, honestly, so be it. If it gets us to the truth… That’s obviously the risk I’m taking.”
Neither Robinson’s attorneys nor the prosecuting attorney responded to requests for comment from Public.
The suggestion that Kent would be willing to help Tyler Robinson’s defense represented a red line for TPUSA and Andrew Kolvet, who was Charlie Kirk’s close friend and podcaster producer. Kolvet took to social media and blasted the former counterterrorism head.
Shortly after Robinson’s arrest, the prosecutors released a probable cause affidavit detailing the evidence gathered immediately after Charlie’s assassination.
The evidence presented at that time was overwhelming.
In the months that have followed, we know the investigation has… pic.twitter.com/zD2jFMsya7
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) March 24, 2026
KOLVET: Shortly after Robinson’s arrest, the prosecutors released a probable cause affidavit detailing the evidence gathered immediately after Charlie’s assassination. The evidence presented at that time was overwhelming. In the months that have followed, we know the investigation has continued.
More details will come out in May, when the assassin has a probable cause hearing and we are certain there will be even more evidence demonstrating why the State believes Tyler Robinson is the assassin.
But now we have a government official, Joe Kent, who has reportedly indicated he is willing to testify on behalf of the defense, to get Robinson off the hook for an evil he committed.
Joe Kent just crossed a red line, and it’s a massive betrayal of Charlie, his wife, his kids, and the entire TPUSA family.
Just because HE didnt get let into the investigation doesnt mean it wasn’t investigated.
Blake Neff, another producer on The Charlie Kirk Show, also responded, detailing all the evidence against Robinson and the complete lack of evidence for anything Owens, Kent, and others are claiming or insinuating.
The news about Joe Kent testifying for Tyler Robinson broke just minutes before today’s show. I did not hold back in my feelings about it. pic.twitter.com/lCnzPcFKp3
— Blake Neff (@BlakeSNeff) March 24, 2026
As for my personal feelings, I find what Kent is doing to be incredibly dishonorable and disgusting. In his position at the NCTC, he would not have been privy to any information regarding what the FBI did or didn’t investigate regarding Kirk’s murder. Nor would he be in a position to investigate the matter himself. Of course, the FBI would tell him to back off if he indeed did that. It was not his place to get involved, and his doing so could have tainted the prosecution’s case.
His attempts to speak as an authority on the matter, while conveniently not providing any relevant information to back his insinuations, are deeply dishonest. If he wanted to be an FBI investigator, he should have asked Trump to place him in that role. But he wasn’t, and we are now at a place where he’s feeding the insanity pushed by some of the worst figures in politics, including Owens.
To reiterate, there is nothing to back up any of these conspiracy theories involving Israel and Kirk’s murder. At this point, it’s all “just asking questions” clout-chasing, void of any evidence, and that’s the most charitable explanation of why these people are doing this. Using a man’s assassination, tormenting his widow in the process, to juice engagement with baseless claims is a bridge too far. I’m glad to see TPUSA pushing back.
