Former U.S. Counterterrorism Center Director Who Resigned in Protest Over Iran War Under FBI Investigation

[Financial News] Joe Kent, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and the first senior official in the Donald John Trump administration to resign over concerns about an attack on Iran, is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
On the 18th (local time), Semafor, The Associated Press (AP), and The New York Times (NYT) reported, citing anonymous sources, that "former Director Kent is under investigation on suspicion of improperly sharing classified information, and the probe had already begun before he resigned on the 17th."
The day after his resignation, on the 18th, former Director Kent appeared on a current affairs news show hosted by conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and said that "it was not permitted to convey concerns to President Donald Trump," describing what he called a breakdown of communication within the administration. He added, "A significant number of key decision-makers were not allowed to go to the president and present their views," and, "There was no healthy debate." When Carlson asked who had blocked access to President Donald Trump, Kent declined to answer.
Former Director Kent argued that "President Donald Trump decided to attack Iran after hearing only from a small circle of close advisers," and claimed, "Even though there was no evidence that Iran posed an 'imminent threat' to the United States, Israel pushed President Donald Trump to take military action against Iran." He said there was no intelligence suggesting that Iran was in the process of developing nuclear weapons, and added, "I think Israel was able to prompt U.S. military action because it promised that Israel would strike first."
He also asserted, "Because of Israel, U.S. interests in the Middle East have been put at risk," and said, "Experts from Israel and in the U.S. media helped ensure that the claim 'Iran is a threat' would be accepted." He went on to say that Israel had helped drive the decision to take this course of action, citing remarks by United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In particular, he said, "Israeli officials, including Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, personally lobbied Trump," and added, "Among the information they presented were items that U.S. government officials were not able to verify." He said, "When you listen to what the Israeli side was saying, it did not reflect established intelligence channels."
The NCTC, which Kent headed, is the agency responsible for detecting and analyzing terrorist threats, and it operates under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), led by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.
On the 18th, at a public hearing of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, DNI Tulsi Gabbard was asked by Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, whether the intelligence community had assessed that there was an "immediate nuclear threat" posed by the Iranian regime. She avoided a direct answer, saying, "The only person who can decide what constitutes an immediate threat and what does not is the president," and, "It was President Donald Trump who made the determination that there was an immediate nuclear threat."
Before that question, Senator Ossoff had asked whether it was correct that, as she had said, "Iran's nuclear enrichment program was completely destroyed as a result of last summer's airstrikes" and that "since then, there have been no efforts by Iran to rebuild its enrichment capability." DNI Gabbard replied that this did reflect the intelligence community's assessment. However, she added at the hearing that "the intelligence community has assessed that Iran maintains the intent to rebuild and expand its nuclear enrichment capability."
whywani@fnnews.com Hong Chae-wan Reporter