Joel Willett, a former CIA officer whose security clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, has announced he will run as a Democrat for the Kentucky Senate seat long held by Mitch McConnell. Willett launched his campaign on Wednesday, weeks after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked his clearance as part of a purge targeting 37 current and former intelligence officials.
“I’ve seen firsthand how the Trump administration and their far-right allies are trying to weaponize the government against anyone who disagrees with them,” Willett said. Following the revocation, he faced attacks from Trump-aligned activists and received death threats. Gabbard accused those targeted of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence” but provided no evidence.
Willett, 41, served in the White House situation room after stints with the army, FBI and CIA before leaving government in 2015. He has since worked in the private sector and previously signed a 2019 letter calling for Trump's impeachment. He described the revocations as “a nakedly political act intended to silence dissent” and warned that the country he swore to protect “will be unrecognizable in five to 10 years”.
His campaign focuses on economic inequality, criticising budget legislation that will “transfer $4tn out of much needed government services and put it in the pockets of billionaires”. Willett also highlights the fentanyl crisis, noting both his parents battled addiction and his father died of an overdose in 2019. “Fentanyl didn’t care that I worked at the White House,” he said.
Willett enters a closely watched race for a seat McConnell held for over 40 years. Kentucky has voted Republican for Senate in recent decades but has also elected Democratic Governor Andy Beshear twice and occasionally backed Trump critics like Senator Rand Paul.
