Ex-Counterterror Official Joe Kent Is Under FBI Investigation

Joe Kent's high-profile exit over the Iran war was predated by an ongoing FBI investigation into whether he leaked sensitive intelligence, four people familiar with the matter tell Semafor. The probe was reportedly underway before Kent resigned Tuesday as head of the National Counterterrorism Center, a move that made him the first senior Trump administration official to step down in protest of the conflict. News of the inquiry surfaced amid what the New York Times calls a "coordinated Trump administration effort to discredit Mr. Kent as untrustworthy and disloyal." Trump himself in the wake of Kent's resignation said "it's a good thing that he's out because he said Iran was not a threat." Axios independently confirmed that the investigation had been ongoing.

"He's going to try to say this was in retaliation for his resignation," a source tells Axios, "but it's the other way around: He quit because he's under investigation and he knew it." Kent gave a nearly two-hour interview to Tucker Carlson on Wednesday in which he praised Trump's past actions against Iran while again asserting there was no imminent threat and urging Trump to cut off Israeli offensive operations. One source tells Axios that Kent is suspected of leaking to Carlson and another conservative podcaster.