Report: FBI Has Been Investigating Joe Kent for Months Over Classified Leak Allegations
AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File
Posted For: Rotorblade
Joe Kent stepped down from his position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center while publicly criticizing the circumstances surrounding the United States’ war with Iran. Rather than leaving quietly, Kent used his resignation to sharply condemn what he said were forces inside and outside the government that pushed the country toward a conflict he believes should never have begun.
Kent framed his decision as more than a simple disagreement over policy. In his view, the issue was the war itself.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Such remarks are highly unusual coming from the head of the National Counterterrorism Center. A sitting intelligence leader publicly accusing foreign allies and influential political groups of driving the United States into military action directly challenges the credibility of the intelligence and policymaking system he was part of.
Kent went further in his resignation letter, suggesting that President Donald Trump had been misled before the conflict began.
“High-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform… to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat… This was a lie.”
While those accusations drew immediate attention in Washington, new reporting indicates that Kent himself has been under federal scrutiny for months. According to Semafor, federal investigators have been examining whether Kent improperly disclosed classified intelligence.
Sources familiar with the matter said the inquiry began well before his resignation and is still ongoing. The investigation centers on allegations that sensitive information may have been shared without authorization. Four individuals with direct knowledge of the probe described it as focused specifically on the handling of classified material.
Because the investigation was already underway before Kent left his post, it challenges the idea that the scrutiny emerged only after his public criticism.
Inside the administration, reactions to Kent’s resignation have been direct. President Donald Trump signaled little concern over Kent’s departure and suggested it would not harm the administration as the controversy unfolded. Officials also rejected Kent’s account of how the conflict with Iran began.
Administration representatives argued that Kent’s claims misrepresent the intelligence assessments and the decisions that led to the military action. They dismissed his accusations as inaccurate and politically motivated.
The dispute is unfolding while the federal investigation continues, raising the stakes beyond a typical Washington disagreement. Kent is now not only a former intelligence official criticizing government decisions but also someone whose handling of classified information is under investigation.
The situation leaves a complicated picture: a senior counterterrorism official resigns, accuses powerful interests of misleading the country into war, and it later emerges that he had already been under investigation by federal authorities over alleged leaks of classified intelligence.
The story is still developing.
About Post Author
