The FBI has opened an investigation into Joe Kent, President Donald Trump’s former counterterrorism chief, who resigned from his post over opposition to the war in Iran, according to multiple news reports.
The bureau’s probe into Kent, who served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, pertains to allegations that he mishandled classified information, four unnamed sources familiar with the matter told Semafor on Wednesday.
The investigation began before he left the administration, sources said, with one characterizing it as having gone on for months.
It’s being handled by the bureau’s Criminal Division, a source told CBS News.
Taylor Budowich, a former deputy White House chief of staff, appeared to allude to the investigation shortly after Kent stepped down. He wrote on X that the ex-counterterrorism chief was “often at the center of national security leaks.”
An FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
Kent, a 20-year Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, shared his resignation letter on X Tuesday morning, where it quickly went viral, amassing nearly 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.”
Podcast host Tucker Carlson released an interview with Kent on Wednesday evening, during which the former counterterrorism chief repeated his claim that “the Israelis drove the decision to take this action” and that Iran was nowhere close to developing a nuclear bomb.
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The White House has dismissed Kent’s departure as inconsequential.
“It’s been a while since the president has seen him here at the White House,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. “This was an individual who was not involved in any of the discussions pre-operation and throughout this operation.”
She also combatted claims that Tehran posed no threat to the U.S., writing on X that the 79-year-old president “had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first.”
When asked about Kent on Tuesday, the president said, “I always thought he was weak on security.”
Recent polls show that more Americans oppose the conflict in Iran than support it.
