Former two-time Washington congressional candidate Joe Kent was among the handful of people included in a Trump administration Signal group chat discussing sensitive information about U.S. plans for a military strike in Yemen.

The Signal texts exploded into a scandal this week after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed he’d been accidentally added to the chat, which included specific details about the plans for attacks on Houthi militia.

The revelations have led Democrats to call for the resignations of prominent chat participants, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

Kent’s involvement has also raised questions because he holds no confirmed job in the Trump administration. He was nominated by Trump in February to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, but the U.S. Senate has not yet held a confirmation hearing or vote on his nomination.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden slammed Kent’s inclusion in the Signal chat in a statement to Willamette Week, arguing “the fact they included Joe Kent in this buffoonish behavior only magnifies their dangerous sloppiness and total disregard for intelligence since he hasn’t even been confirmed by the Senate.”

Kent could not be reached for comment. He did not respond to a voice message and a Signal text message from The Seattle Times on Thursday.

A decorated Green Beret combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, Kent was endorsed by Trump in two unsuccessful runs for Congress in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.

Kent was reportedly included in the Signal chat as a representative of Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of National Intelligence. He has been serving as Gabbard’s acting chief of staff while awaiting confirmation, according to The Washington Post.

During the chat on March 14, Hegseth and others debated whether to launch an immediate strike on the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, who have attacked ships in the Red Sea, disrupting trade to Europe and the U.S.

Notably, Vice President JD Vance chimed in, arguing there was no need to attack immediately. He contended U.S. involvement was “inconsistent” with Trump’s message that Europe should handle its own defense needs. He also said it could spike oil prices.

Kent agreed. “There is nothing time sensitive driving the time line. We’ll have the exact same options in a month,” he wrote, according to the text messages released by The Atlantic. He added that Israel would launch its own strikes and ask the U.S. “to replenish whatever they use against the Houthis.”

Hegseth, however, argued for an immediate attack, warning that there were “immediate risks on waiting” including “this leaks, and we look indecisive.”

The next day, U.S. forces launched an attack, which Hegseth sent details about to the same Signal chat group, including the timing of when F-18s and drones would launch.

As the attack unfolded, Waltz and Hegseth narrated further details over the civilian Signal chat app, cheering on the strike that killed targeted Houthi leaders, according to media reports.

Some chat participants responded with praise. “Excellent,” wrote Vance. Waltz reacted with emojis depicting a fist, an American flag and a fire. Kent did not reply to those messages, according to the texts that have been released.

Houthi rebels said the attacks killed 53 people, including five children, the BBC reported.

A Trump loyalist, Kent grew up in Oregon and enlisted in the Army at 18, serving 11 combat deployments and then working at the CIA. In 2019, his wife, Navy cryptologist Shannon Kent, was killed in a terrorist suicide bombing in Syria.

Kent entered politics in 2022, running in Washington’s 3rd District primary against U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over his stoking of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Kent ousted Herrera Beutler in the primary but was defeated that November by Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in a stunning political upset that flipped the Republican-leaning district. Last fall, Kent lost in a rematch with Gluesenkamp Perez.

Kent’s participation in the Signal chat is likely to be raised when his nomination to lead the National Counterterrorism Center comes before the Senate. The nomination was received by the Senate on Feb. 11 and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence.

No hearing or other action has yet been scheduled.