After National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned over the Iran conflict, sources say the FBI is investigating him for allegedly leaking information.

Kent announced on March 17 that he would step down, as “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 Dallas Express reported. 

Now, three sources claim the FBI was investigating Kent for allegedly leaking classified information for months before his resignation, according to Fox News Digital. Kent was reportedly a “known leaker” who had been cut out of intelligence briefings for months, one unnamed senior official previously told the outlet.

After Kent’s resignation and allegations of foreign interests, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied many of his claims as “false.” She further suggested Iran was a threat because it was developing “short-range ballistic missiles” that could defend its nuclear program.

“Iran was aggressively expanding their short-range ballistic missiles to combine with their naval assets to give themselves immunity – meaning they would have a degree of a capabilities that would give them immunity to hold us and the rest of the world hostage,” Leavitt said. “The regime aimed to use those ballistic missiles as a shield to continue achieving their ultimate goal – nuclear weapons.”

She said Trump is committed to advancing American interests – “America First.”

Tulsi Gabbard’s Defense of the President’s Decision

Kent served nearly two decades in the Army with a dozen combat deployments, and later as a CIA paramilitary officer, as The Dallas Express reported. He is also a Gold Star husband, after a suicide bomber killed his wife Shannon in Syria in 2019.

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Kent was nominated to the post in February 2025, and the Senate confirmed him that July. He was previously Chief of Staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

After Kent’s resignation, Gabbard said Trump has the responsibility as Commander-in-Chief to determine what constitutes a threat.

“After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion,” she said in the March 17 post.

Kent Points Finger at Israeli Special Interests

In his resignation letter to President Donald Trump, Kent blamed Israeli special interests for inciting the conflict with Iran. 

“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran,” Kent wrote to Trump. 

“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 added. “This was a lie.”

Kent Appears on Carlson’s Show to Question the Iran War

Before Kent’s resignation, pundit Tucker Carlson – another prominent critic of the Iran conflict – claimed the CIA had been reading his text messages with individuals in Iran and was preparing a potential criminal referral, as The Dallas Express reported. 

Specifically, Carlson said officials could charge him with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires disclosure when individuals act to promote the interests of a foreign government. 

“I’m not an agent of a foreign power,” Carlson said, as DX reported at the time. “Unlike a lot of people commenting on U.S. politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty, and that’s the United States.”

Following Kent’s resignation, Kent joined Carlson’s show to discuss “why we actually went to war with Iran.”