The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, for allegedly leaking classified information.
According to sources who spoke with NBC News, CBS News, and Semafor, which first reported the investigation, the probe was launched before Kent’s resignation on Tuesday.
Kent, a U.S. Army veteran, resigned from his post on Mar. 17, in opposition to the current war in Iran, stating in his resignation letter that he "cannot in good conscience" support the conflict.
“Trump aides and allies denounced Kent as a leaker immediately after his resignation became public,” Shelby Talcott of Semafor reported.
In his first interview since his resignation, Kent spoke with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday. The former director reaffirmed his claims that the Islamic Republic "posed no imminent threat to our nation,” as he wrote in his letter.
Kent also told Carlson that he’s anticipating that there will be efforts to “discredit” him for his opposition.
“I understand the way I left and writing the letter that there’s parts of this administration that are going to have to come after me and try and discredit me,” Kent shared. “I understand that, but I think the president is someone who listens." “And so I think he’s listening, not necessarily just to me and to you, but I think he is listening to a lot of different people, because I think he knows at a core level, this is not going well, and he needs to find a way for us to get out of this,” he commented.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt subsequently pushed back against Kent’s statements in his resignation letter, stating that his letter contained “false claims” and asserting that President Donald Trump “had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first.”
