Joe Kent, who served as President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism chief, has pushed back against reports that he is under FBI investigation, insisting he “did nothing wrong” and denouncing the alleged probe as a “sideshow.”
Kent resigned as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday over his staunch opposition to the war in Iran, which he claimed Trump had been deceived into starting. The next day, multiple news outlets reported that the FBI had opened an investigation into Kent over allegations he inappropriately shared classified material.
“As for the leak allegations, I’m not concerned because I know I did nothing wrong,” Kent told Megyn Kelly, a popular conservative podcaster, in an interview released on Friday.
“Of course, I am concerned because we’ve all seen the FBI and the full weight of the government come down on individuals who speak out,” he added. “So that has me a little concerned but I know the truth and the facts are on my side.”
Kelly, one of several right‑wing media figures to speak out against the war, noted that Trump and his allies have relentlessly attacked Kent, branding him as weak and even accusing him of treason. She asked whether the fallout from his resignation had angered him.
“It does anger me,” he said. “But it’s all just to be expected. I knew this was going to happen. I know their playbook.”
He also insinuated that the bureau’s investigation may not even be real.
“If there truly was an FBI investigation — and who knows maybe there will be — then there would be a process and a procedure for that. They would actually formally come to me, and if they were still collecting information they most certainly wouldn’t leak it,” Kent said.
When reached for comment by The Independent, an FBI spokesperson declined to comment on the probe.
“I feel very confident in what I’m doing right now,” Kent added. “I think I have a mission, and I think it is to do everything I can to stop this war. To me I kind of view everything else as a sideshow.”
Kent’s interview with Kelly is among several media appearances he has made since posting his resignation letter to X on Tuesday morning, which quickly went viral and drew more than 100 million views.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he 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.”
The 20-year Army veteran — whose Navy officer wife died while serving in Syria — added that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people.”
Kent expanded on his decision to leave the administration in an interview with Tucker Carlson released on Wednesday. He told Carlson that the Israelis “drove the decision” to go to war and that Iran was not on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb.
He also claimed that, during his tenure, he was blocked from investigating the September assassination of Charlie Kirk, which he insinuated may have been carried out by foreign actors.
The White House — which was reportedly caught off guard by Kent’s sudden departure — has dismissed his decision as inconsequential.
Trump said he “realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out” after reading his resignation letter on Tuesday. The president also characterized Kent as “weak on security.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the episode “laughable” and took issue with the ex-counterrorism chief’s claim that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S.
“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt wrote on X.
Recent polls show that a majority of Americans are opposed to the war in Iran, which has now entered its third week.
