Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, caused a stir when he announced his resignation was directly related to President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran.
Since then, the ex-Trump official has started doing interviews to talk about the reasons for his departure and his time spent in the administration. Simultaneously, news reports were released about an FBI investigation into his alleged role in leaking classified information.
The investigation began before his resignation and remains ongoing, according to Semafor.
EDITORIAL: TRUMP SHOULD FINISH THE JOB IN IRAN
Here is everything to know about Kent so far.
Who is Joe Kent?
Kent is an Army veteran who served 11 combat tours, primarily in Iraq. He retired from the U.S. military in 2018 and became a paramilitary officer at the CIA.
He ran for Congress as a Republican in 2022 and 2024, but both campaigns for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District failed.
After returning to the presidency last year, Trump nominated Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. The nominee ultimately passed the Senate confirmation process in July by a 52-44 vote margin.
When he announced the nomination in February 2025, Trump promised Kent “will help us keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism, from the jihadists around the World, to the cartels in our backyard.” Many Trump aides and allies did not feel he lived up to the president’s promise, according to Semafor.
Why did he quit?
In a message announcing his resignation on Tuesday, Kent cited his opposition to the Iran war and alleged that Israel played an outsize role in persuading the United States to start the conflict.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote in his letter to Trump. “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.”
The former intelligence official further explained that “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign” to push Trump into attacking the Islamic regime.
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to victory,” he said. “This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this same mistake again.”
Kent, later speaking on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s podcast, suggested Israel talking points that were “laundered through a lot of prominent neoconservative types that are very sympathetic to the Israeli cause” before making their way to the federal government.
COULD THE US INSTITUTE A DRAFT FOR THE IRAN WAR?
“There was no intelligence that showed they were on the cusp of building a nuclear weapon,” Kent said of Iran, reiterating his stance that Iran “posed no imminent threat” to the U.S.
The White House disputed this, stating Iran did indeed pose an imminent threat that needed to be addressed immediately. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the accusation that Trump attacked Iran because of foreign influence was “both insulting and laughable.”
Following his resignation, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and others accused Kent of antisemitism. But he revealed a deeply personal reason for why he’s concerned about Israeli involvement in the Iran war.
His first wife died in a “war manufactured by Israel,” he said. Shannon Kent was killed in an ISIS suicide bombing in Syria in January 2019. She left her husband and two young sons behind. Kent got remarried in 2023 to another veteran, Heather Kaiser Kent.
He said his late wife’s death is why he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.” At least 13 U.S. service members have been killed since the conflict began.
What controversy has there been since he quit?
Besides the antisemitism accusations, Kent has found himself mired in allegations that he improperly shared classified information. As a result, he is under investigation by the FBI.
Not many details have been revealed about the nature of the investigation, but a source described it to Semafor as a monthslong investigation. Kent has not directly addressed the investigation yet.
Responding to Kent’s unexpected resignation, former White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich claimed the former counterterrorism official was a legitimate leaker and an inefficient worker.
“Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work,” Budowich posted on X. “He spent all of his time working to subvert the chain of command and undermine the President of the United States. This isn’t some principled resignation—he just wanted to make a splash before getting canned. What a loser.”
JOE KENT SAYS HE WAS TOLD ‘YOU NEED TO STOP’ INVESTIGATING CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION
The timing of Kent’s departure is notable, considering it came right before Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard began two days of hearings on Capitol Hill. The congressional oversight hearings were focused on worldwide threats, but the topic of Kent’s resignation came up for a moment on the second day of testimony.
Answering a question from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) on Kent, Gabbard shot down the idea that Trump’s decision to launch “Operation Epic Fury” was influenced by Israel. She also said Kent’s statement blaming the Jewish state concerned her.
