FBI probing US counter-terrorism chief who resigned over Iran war, reports say | US politics

The resignation of Joe Kent, a top counterterrorism official who spoke out against the U.S. war in Iran, took a dramatic turn Wednesday with a report that he was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over an alleged leak of classified information.

The investigation predates Kent’s departure Tuesday from his post as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, where he oversaw the analysis of terrorist threats, according to Semafor and CBS News. The FBI declined to comment on the existence of such an investigation.

The report comes as Kent, the first senior administration official to resign over the war, gives his first media interview since his resignation. Speaking to right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, he claimed that dissenting voices had been excluded from the decision-making process that led to the US airstrikes against Iran on February 28.

“Many key decision-makers were not allowed to come and express their opinions to the president,” Kent said on The Tucker Carlson Show podcast. “There was no robust debate.”

Wearing a blue plaid shirt open at the collar, Kent, a staunch Trump ally and conspiracy theorist, appeared to be struggling not to directly criticize the president. But he painted a picture of a White House in which Trump relied on a tight circle of advisers, sidelining officials who questioned both the intelligence and strategic wisdom behind the strikes.

Kent insisted there was no evidence that Iran was on the verge of nuclear weapons or that it posed an imminent threat to the United States. “There was no intelligence that said, ‘Hey, whatever day it is, March 1, the Iranians are going to launch this big sneak attack – they’re going to do some sort of 9/11, Pearl Harbor, et cetera, they’re going to attack one of our bases.’ There was none of this information.

Instead, Kent claimed, Trump’s hand was effectively forced by Israel. “It was the Israelis who made the decision to take this action,” he said, claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials had pressured the president with claims that did not fit established intelligence channels.

Kent added: “I know how it works. I know that Israeli officials – some in intelligence, some in government – will go to US government officials and say all sorts of things that we know from our intelligence is just not true. They will say, hey, I’m giving you a preview, this isn’t in the intelligence channels yet, but here’s what’s going to happen, and that usually doesn’t come to fruition.”

Such remarks drew swift condemnation in some quarters, with critics saying that references to the “Israel lobby” veer into an offensive cliché. Carlson has faced similar scrutiny, most notably after interviewing anti-Semitic activist Nick Fuentes.

Kent, who did not say who blocked his access to the president, also cited comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson as indicative of Israel’s influence on the timing of the strikes.

But he noted that the United States and Israel have divergent goals. “Most people right now in the Pentagon and in the intelligence agencies would say that we and the Israelis actually have a different objective here.

“I don’t believe our goal has been clearly defined because we are avoiding regime change. The Israelis have no qualms about regime change. They want to knock out, lock down, stockpile and thunder the current government. They don’t seem to have a plan for what comes next. “

Kent told Carlson he decided to resign after it became clear his concerns would be ignored. “I know we’re on this path, it’s not working,” he said. “I cannot participate in this in good conscience.”

As a Green Beret, Kent fought in 11 deployments before retiring to join the CIA. He also endured tragedy: His wife, a Navy cryptologist, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 in Syria, leaving him with two young sons. Kent, 45, has since remarried.

Kent’s work at the National Counterterrorism Center was overseen by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who said Wednesday that it was up to Trump — and Trump alone — to decide whether Iran posed a threat.

Gabbard, a veteran and former congressman from Hawaii, has previously criticized talk of military strikes in Iran. She did not say what she thought about the ongoing strikes and a spokesperson declined to answer questions.

The White House reacted forcefully when Kent resigned. Trump called him “weak on security,” insisting Iran posed “a huge threat” and suggesting those who disagreed lacked judgment. “If someone doesn’t think it’s a threat, we don’t want those people,” he said.