A Turning Point USA official has an idea about how anti-Israel podcaster Candace Owens obtained text messages sent by slain conservative leader Charlie Kirk in the days before his death.
He pointed his finger in the direction of Joe Kent.
Spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said Monday that he shared the group chat with Mr. Kent following Kirk’s assassination, when Mr. Kent was director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
“Eventually Joe did message me and suggest that I make those screen grabs public. I declined because those were shared privately,” Mr. Kolvet said on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” which he now co-hosts with Blake Neff.
“I didn’t want to be reckless with them in the public – there could be innocent people on that group chat that would then be harmed – so I declined. But then, fast-forward another week or two, and they were made public,” he said.
Screenshots of the texts, in which Kirk expresses frustration with “Jewish donors,” created an uproar after being posted online Oct. 8 by Ms. Owens.
“What I know is that Joe suggested that they be made public, I declined, then they were made public,” Mr. Kolvet said. “Can I 100% categorically say that he leaked them? No, but those are the facts. Maybe somebody on his team. Maybe they got passed around. Maybe somebody else leaked them. But those are the facts of the matter, and that’s what I know.”
Mr. Kent denied leaking the group chat to Ms. Owens in a March 20 interview with conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly.
Mr. Kolvet had previously said only that he shared the group chat with a government official.
The disclosure comes as the FBI is reportedly investigating Mr. Kent for leaking classified information, a probe that began before he resigned March 17 over his opposition to the U.S. military strikes on Iran.
President Trump told reporters Monday that he was “not a fan” of his former counter-terrorism chief.
“I hear they’re looking at him for leaking. That’s possible,” said Mr. Trump at Palm Beach International Airport before boarding Air Force One.
He said he felt sorry for Mr. Kent after he lost House races in Washington in 2022 and 2024. Mr. Kent ran for office after his wife Shannon Smith, a Navy cryptologist, was killed in a 2019 suicide bombing in Syria.
“I take this guy, Joe Kent, who lost twice for Congress, pretty badly and tough, and he was devastated, and I know that he lost his wife,” Mr. Trump said. “So instead of letting him live out his life, I brilliantly had my people call him and offer him a job in security, essentially, in the White House. And what does he do? He goes out and he says that Iran is not a threat, to get publicity.”
The FBI suspects Mr. Kent of leaking classified information to two right-wing podcasters, including anti-Israel commentator Tucker Carlson, according to Axios.
In his interview with Ms. Kelly, Mr. Kent also denied leaking to Mr. Carlson.
Here are the facts: Yes, I shared the screen grab with Joe Kent because I was told I could trust him and I wanted EVERY possible lead pursued. We’ve done this quietly behind the scenes with countless items.
Yes he did suggest I make it public. I declined. A few weeks later the… https://t.co/Jx09MBIoPr pic.twitter.com/7FzZEEtsRe
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) March 23, 2026
The day after his resignation, Mr. Kent appeared on “The Tucker Carlson Show” for a two-hour interview, saying he was stopped from continuing his investigation into Kirk’s assassination, even though he thought there was “more work for us to do on the potential of a foreign nexus.”
Tyler James Robinson was charged with aggravated murder in Kirk’s death Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University, which hasn’t stopped conspiracy theories about the circumstances of his killing from proliferating in the podcast world.
The leaked group chat showed Kirk saying that he lost a major donor over his refusal to stiff-arm Mr. Carlson, who has become persona non grata with vast swaths of the conservative movement for his blasts at Israel and opposition to the Trump administration’s use of military force.
Kirk was known as a strong supporter of Israel, but his messages included several moments of frustration about Jews and Israel.
“Just lost another huge Jewish donor. $2 million a year because we won’t cancel Tucker,” reads one.
“Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes. I cannot be bullied like this. Leaving me no choice but to leave the pro-Israel cause,” he says in another.
The messages fueled those looking to blame Israel for Kirk’s death, said Mr. Neff in Monday’s Kirk show podcast.
“After Charlie’s murder, there were text messages from a private group chat that were made public and were used to frankly used to kick off the big conspiracy theory that we’ve run into over and over again, which is that Israel or the Jews had Charlie murdered,” Mr. Neff said. “Which we do not believe.”
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, known as “Charlie Kirk’s rabbi,” accused Mr. Kent of leaking the group chat to Ms. Owens in an interview Sunday with host Erin Molan, prompting the response from Mr. Kolvet.
“I do want to confirm what I can confirm, and that is that: Yes, in the immediate aftermath, I did provide the group chat to Joe Kent,” Mr. Kolvet said, though he added cautions about Turning Point not being one of those who “throw around accusations recklessly.”
