Washington DC — The FBI has been looking into former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent for months over suspicions that he passed classified information to people outside the government and the investigation was already active before Kent walked out of his job this week to publicly oppose the US war with Iran.
The probe was first revealed by Semafor, drawing on four sources with direct knowledge, and has since been confirmed separately by Fox News, CBS News, Axios, NBC News and Bloomberg. CBS News reported the FBI’s Criminal Division is handling the case. The Bureau itself refused to comment. Kent did not reply to multiple requests for a response.
One source told Axios that Kent is suspected of sharing sensitive material with television host Tucker Carlson and at least one other figure in conservative media. The same source said the leaked material included information connected to Iran and Israel the two countries at the heart of Operation Epic Fury, the joint US-Israeli campaign that began on February 28.
Whether those alleged leaks are connected to the decision to go to war with Iran, or involve a separate matter entirely, has not been confirmed.
A Very Public Break With the Administration
Kent stepped down on Tuesday as the country’s top counterterrorism official becoming the most senior government figure to openly defy the Trump administration over the Iran conflict.
In his resignation letter, Kent wrote that Iran presented no genuine threat to the United States and said the decision to go to war had been driven by pressure from Israel. He said he could not continue in his role while the fighting went on and expressed worry about American lives being lost in a conflict that he believed served no clear national interest.
President Trump hit back the same day, telling reporters that Kent’s departure was welcome. “I always thought he was weak on security, very weak,” Trump said. “When I read his statement, I realised that it’s a good thing that he’s out.”
The FBI investigation details reached the public within hours of the resignation — raising immediate questions about the timing of the disclosures.
Removed From Briefings Months Earlier
People close to the White House had been raising concerns about Kent long before this week.
A senior administration official told Fox News that Kent had been labelled a “known leaker” and stripped of access to presidential intelligence briefings well before he resigned. Former deputy White House chief of staff Taylor Budowich said on X that Kent had spent his time “working to subvert the chain of command” and was “often at the centre of national security leaks,” as reported by CBS News.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed Kent’s account of the war as “insulting and laughable,” saying Trump had clear evidence that Iran was planning to attack the United States before the campaign was launched.
Gabbard Defends the War — But Avoids the Key Question
Kent had worked directly under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has long been sceptical of US military operations overseas.
Gabbard pushed back on Kent’s framing, writing on X that deciding what qualifies as an imminent threat is a matter for the president not for intelligence officials. However, when members of Congress asked her directly during a hearing on Wednesday whether she personally regarded Iran’s nuclear programme as an imminent danger to the United States, she declined to give an answer, as reported by NBC News.
Kent’s Record and Background
Before his appointment to the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent served as chief of staff to Gabbard. He ran for Congress twice in Washington State and lost both times. As reported by CBS News, he paid a member of the far-right Proud Boys for consulting work during one campaign, described the 2020 election as stolen, and said former public health official Anthony Fauci should face criminal prosecution over Covid-19 policy decisions.
Kent is a Gold Star spouse. His wife Shannon, a Navy cryptologist, died in a suicide bombing in Syria in January 2019.
In an interview after his resignation, Kent acknowledged that the administration would come after him. “I understand that, but I think the president is someone who listens,” he said. “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.”
Where the War Stands
Operation Epic Fury is now entering its third week. Israel has claimed the killings of Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani and intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib in targeted strikes over recent days. Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has made no public appearance since his appointment and is reported to be injured and surrounded by IRGC personnel managing the state on his behalf.
For the latest on the Iran conflict and Operation Epic Fury, visit M10News.com.
This is a developing story. Updates will follow as more facts are confirmed.
