Joe Kent, the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned after claiming Israel had pushed the United States into war with Iran. Soon after, reports said the FBI had already been investigating him over suspected leaks of classified information.
Kent resigned on Tuesday and said he could not support the war in Iran. In his resignation letter and later public comments, he argued that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States and said parts of the administration had been misled about the case for war. The White House rejected those claims.
Joe Kent resignation deepens scrutiny
Reports said the FBI inquiry began months before Kent left office. According to those accounts, officials suspected he had shared classified information with media figures, including Tucker Carlson. Administration officials also described him as a “known leaker” and said he had been kept out of presidential briefings.
Kent did not publicly respond to the reports about the investigation in the initial coverage. However, he later repeated his criticism of the Iran war in an interview with Carlson, where he said dissenting views inside government had been blocked from reaching President Donald Trump.
Iran war dispute spills into Washington
The case has added to broader divisions inside Trump-aligned circles over the war with Iran. Kent’s claims echoed arguments from some conservative critics who said the United States had been drawn into another Middle East conflict without a direct national security necessity. At the same time, administration officials moved quickly to dismiss his allegations and defend the decision to strike Iran.
Kent is a former Army Special Forces soldier and CIA paramilitary officer who had become a visible figure in national security debates. His resignation and the reported FBI probe have now turned him into a focal point in the wider political fight over the Iran war, intelligence disclosures and internal dissent inside the administration.
