(COVER PHOTO: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)
By Zachary Cohen, CNN
(CNN) — A senior U.S. intelligence official appointed by President Donald Trump abruptly announced he is stepping down from his post on Tuesday, citing misgivings about the administration’s war with Iran.
“After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today,” Joe Kent wrote in an internet post.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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,” Kent added in the resignation letter he attached to the post.
Kent was a staunch Trump supporter, and his resignation marks the first high-profile departure of the president’s second term over a major policy issue. Some lawmakers and experts have raised doubts over the intelligence the president used to justify the war, and the departure of a key intelligence official will increase scrutiny of the administration’s case.
A senior U.S. official confirmed that Kent was resigning.
The Office of Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the initial wave of strikes against Iran, Trump cited an “imminent threat” to the U.S., and administration officials said the U.S. acted in response to potential preemptive attacks by Iran on forces in the region — claims that were contradicted in Pentagon briefings to Capitol Hill, where defense officials said Iran was not planning to attack unless struck first.
Kent blamed Israeli officials and the media for misleading Trump about the threat posed by Iran.
“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 wrote in his resignation letter. “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 mistake again.”
Kent served in a key intelligence position
Kent is leaving a crucial role at an organization tasked with monitoring intelligence associated with long-existing terrorist organizations in the Middle East as well as drug cartels and international gangs. Before taking on the position he served as a top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Kent earned his top position in part by being a vocal proponent of Trump’s 2020 election conspiracies. But Kent’s penchant for conspiracies led to clashes with other administration officials since taking office.
Last year Kent drew a rebuke from FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials after he sought to access FBI systems to investigate the Charlie Kirk assassination, pursuing claims that there could have been foreign involvement in the killing, according to people briefed on the discussions.
Patel and other officials raised concerns that accessing FBI evidence could damage the prosecution of Tyler Robinson, the Utah man charged in the Kirk assassination, those briefed said.
Kent has extensive experience in counterterrorism and the military — he served 11 combat tours over a 20-year career in the Army before retiring to become a CIA officer — and has personal experience as a Gold Star spouse. His first wife, Shannon, was killed in a 2019 suicide bombing in Syria while serving as a Navy cryptologist.
Kent’s past connections with far-right figures
Kent ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2022, during which past associations with far-right figures became a key issue.
Kent repeatedly had to disavow past interactions with Nazi sympathizer Greyson Arnold and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes as CNN’s KFile has previously reported. Kent said at the time he was unfamiliar with Fuentes and later said he did not want Fuentes’ endorsement.
During Kent’s confirmation hearing, he faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers who pointed to those past associations.
Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, described him at the time as a “conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views and is patently unqualified for this important role in just about every way imaginable.” He was confirmed in a 52-44 vote in the Senate.
Trump’s rationale for attacking the Iranian regime has whipsawed from protecting the demonstrators who protested in the streets of Iran in January to defending the US against the risk of Iran building nuclear and long-range weapons and eliminating a regime that’s backed terrorist groups’ killing Americans for decades. He’s called for the Iranian people to take control of their country even as top officials say the war is not about regime change.
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