Inside Joe Kent’s abrupt fall as GOP backlash grows over antisemitism accusations, FBI probe

Joe Kent's eyebrow-raising resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center Tuesday has given way to news that Kent is under FBI investigation — and has been for weeks — for allegedly leaking classified information.

It's a stunning turn of events for someone in such a high-profile job. And Kent's incendiary letter and subsequent statements have exposed an apparent fracture in President Donald Trump's national security team — pitting officials who favor a more aggressive military posture against those aligned with a more isolationist approach.

Kent rose on the right as a combat veteran turned political insurgent — a former Green Beret and CIA officer who channeled his battlefield experience into a critique of America’s "endless wars" and the D.C. establishment that sustained them.

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A vocal ally of Trump and a participant in post-2020 election challenges, Kent became a prominent voice in the populist wing of the GOP.

Now, his recent resignation — and his accusation that the war in Iran was driven by "pressure from Israel" — has triggered a swift GOP backlash, leaving Kent isolated from parts of the political movement that once embraced him.

His Tuesday resignation letter directly challenged the Trump administration’s justification for the Iran war, stating that "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation" and arguing the conflict was driven by "pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

He also alleged that a "misinformation campaign" by Israeli officials and U.S. media had pushed the United States toward war, claims that drew condemnation from lawmakers in both parties.

After Kent’s resignation, officials said he had been under FBI investigation for weeks for allegedly leaking classified information.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was unaware of the probe, a senior intelligence official told Fox News Digital Thursday. 

Administration officials also told Fox News Kent had been cut out of planning meetings for the current Iran mission, known as Operation Epic Fury, as well as the president’s daily briefings.

Kent’s resignation, now shadowed by the FBI investigation into alleged leaks, has placed a once-rising figure in Trump’s orbit at the center of a growing clash over the administration’s Iran strategy, the use of intelligence in military decision-making, and internal tensions within the national security team.

Kent’s rise in conservative circles was shaped as much by his military career as by personal loss. 

A 20-year Army Special Forces veteran and former CIA paramilitary officer, he served in multiple combat deployments before entering public life.

His profile grew significantly after the 2019 death of his first wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, who was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria. 

Joe Kent frequently has cited her death as a turning point for him, fueling his criticism of what he describes as failed U.S. foreign policy and "endless wars" in the Middle East.

He later entered politics, running for Congress in 2022 and 2024 in Washington state as a Republican aligned with President Donald Trump’s "America First" movement. 

Kent secured Trump’s endorsement during his campaigns and became a prominent voice in the populist wing of the party, combining a hardline stance on national security with opposition to prolonged military interventions.

Kent’s recent departure has raised questions about internal dynamics within the Trump administration’s national security team, particularly as differences emerge over Iran strategy and the intelligence used to justify it.

While Gabbard has long aligned herself with a more restrained approach to foreign policy, the White House has taken a more aggressive posture toward Iran, raising the possibility of a widening divide over both strategy and the intelligence used to justify it.

Gabbard has responded cautiously in the days since Kent’s resignation, avoiding a direct defense of his claims while emphasizing the role of the president in making final decisions.

In a statement on Iran threats following Kent’s departure, Gabbard did not mention him by name, instead stressing that intelligence agencies provide assessments but that "the president is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat."

Pressed by senators in a worldwide threat hearing Wednesday over whether she agreed with the White House that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S. prior to strikes that began Feb. 28, she repeatedly declined to say so, arguing it was up to the president to make such a determination.

During a parallel hearing in the House Thursday, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., read portions of Kent’s resignation letter — including his claim that Israeli officials and U.S. media had pushed the United States toward war — and asked whether Gabbard agreed with the statement.

"He said a lot of things in that letter," Gabbard responded, adding that the president "makes his own decisions based on the information that’s available to him." 

When asked whether Kent’s comments concerned her, Gabbard replied simply: "Yes."

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Kent’s remarks also have drawn sharp criticism from senior Republicans. 

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell described the language in Kent’s resignation letter as "virulent anti-Semitism," calling it "baseless and incendiary conspiracies" and saying such views have "no place" in government.

In early March, Gabbard’s chief of staff, Matt Baker, left his role, though a senior intelligence official told Fox News Digital Baker’s departure was a long-planned return to the private sector. 

Gabbard also has recently brought on Dan Caldwell, an outspoken advocate of a more restrained foreign policy. Caldwell previously was the subject of a Pentagon leak probe during his time working with War Secretary Pete Hegseth, though the results of that probe have not been publicized and Caldwell insists they are unsubstantiated. 

A source familiar with that move said Caldwell will be doing administration work rather than shaping policy.

Gabbard's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Noninterventionist Republicans praised Kent after his departure. 

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said, "Another insider sees what we see: no imminent threat, just lobby pressure. This is why we need to defund and debate." 

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who recently resigned after a public spat with Trump over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, said, "Joe Kent is a GREAT AMERICAN HERO. God bless him and protect him! He just exposed that the war with Iran is AMERICA LAST and we voted against it." 

Kent’s past comments on Iran reflect a more nuanced position than his resignation might suggest. 

During his congressional campaigns, he consistently portrayed Iran as a real and ongoing threat and warned against allowing it to expand its influence across the region.

At times, Kent’s rhetoric went further, reflecting a willingness to use direct force against Iran when he viewed it as necessary. 

In a 2020 social media post following the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force responsible for operations outside Iran. Kent urged the administration to "wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out," while still calling for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from the region.

 The comments highlighted a tension that has defined his foreign policy views —support for aggressive, targeted action against adversaries alongside a deep opposition to prolonged military entanglements.

By 2024, Kent had coalesced around a doctrine of what he described as "peace through strength," praising Trump-era policies that combined sanctions, targeted strikes and diplomacy while avoiding large-scale military commitments. 

In a Newsweek op-ed that year, he argued that sending U.S. troops to confront Iran or its proxies would be "a huge mistake," advocating instead for withdrawing forces from vulnerable positions while continuing to strike adversaries from a distance.

His resignation marks a sharper break: not just opposing escalation, but rejecting the premise that Iran posed an imminent threat at all.

Kent could not be reached for comment. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment on its ongoing investigation. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has called the claims in Kent's resignation letter "false" and "laughable." 

"There are many false claims in this letter, but let me address one specifically: that 'Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,'" she wrote on X. "This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over." 

"The absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable," she wrote.