Joe Kent Under FBI Probe After Quitting Over Iran War” Leaks Storm

The FBI has launched an investigation into former counterterror chief Joe Kent, amid claims he may have leaked classified information during the escalating Iran war crisis.

Probe Began Before Resignation

Sources say the investigation was already underway before Kent dramatically quit his post — raising serious questions about what was happening behind the scenes at the highest levels of U.S. national security.

Leak Claims Rock White House

Senior figures have accused Kent of being “at the centre” of national security leaks, with claims he worked to undermine the chain of command inside the administration.

Iran War Fallout Deepens

Kent’s resignation itself sent shockwaves after he publicly attacked the war with Iran, insisting the country posed “no imminent threat” to the United States.

‘We Were Misled’ Bombshell

He went further — claiming the conflict was driven by pressure from Israel and an influential lobbying network, sparking fierce backlash.

Trump Camp Hits Back

The White House has flatly rejected Kent’s claims, with officials branding them “false” and “insulting,” insisting Donald Trump acted on strong intelligence of an imminent threat.

‘Weak On Security’

Trump himself dismissed Kent bluntly, calling him “weak on security” and saying his exit was ultimately a positive for the administration.

Out Of The Loop?

Officials have also tried to downplay Kent’s influence, claiming he was not involved in key war discussions — a suggestion he has angrily pushed back against.

Insider Turns Critic

In interviews, Kent has doubled down, insisting there was no real intelligence debate before the war — and suggesting key decisions were driven externally.

Past Controversies Resurface

The scandal is also reviving scrutiny of Kent’s past, including political controversies and links to hardline figures, adding further fuel to the fire.

Pressure Mounts

With a leak probe underway and political divisions widening, the saga is fast becoming a full-blown crisis — exposing deep fractures inside the administration as the Iran war intensifies.

SOURCE

Exactly as I stated. The man was under investigation going back several months for his initiation of allegedly illegal activities. The resignation is a smokescreen to offer cover for what are some serious allegations of misconduct.

Spying on US citizens in the USA by the intelligence services is not allowed. Serious violation.

2 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

Exactly as I stated. The man was under investigation going back several months for his initiation of allegedly illegal activities. The resignation is a smokescreen to offer cover for what are some serious allegations of misconduct.

Spying on US citizens in the USA by the intelligence services is not allowed. Serious violation.

He said the decision to start a war with Iran was due to pressure by Israel lobby and Israel. Do you still deny this?

3 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

Exactly as I stated. The man was under investigation going back several months for his initiation of allegedly illegal activities. The resignation is a smokescreen to offer cover for what are some serious allegations of misconduct.

Spying on US citizens in the USA by the intelligence services is not allowed. Serious violation.

Actually, what you are reading is a bunch of spin by the media based on the barest of details, themselves leaked anonymously.

The essence of the charges are "improperly shared classified information". The actual original report of the leak about a leak:

https://www.semafor.com/article/03/18/2026/fbi-investigates-national-security-aide-who-resigned-over-war

Not sure where you got the information about the charges being related to organising spying on citizens.

The immediate reaction from the Whitehouse to his resignation, as expressed by Leavett, was "disappointment", not "good riddance", that came a little later from the President who described Kent as "weak on security", and we all know he wasn't talking about Op-Sec.

Yes, many members of this government play fast and loose over the handling of classified information, starting at the top, with classified papers stored in a toilet at a golf club. There is no denying that happened, the contention is over the rights of a President to retain documents for whatever purpose he sees fit.

What about Signal Chat leaks; Mike Waltz "erroneously" added a journalist to a non-secure Signal chat involving Hegseth and Vance. While Waltz left his role as National Security Advisor, he sequed into the role of US Ambassador to the United Nations. Not exactly a demotion.

I've been in a world of handling such material. There are strict rules about how material is handled, where it can go, where it can't go. Literally, its possible if you lose material, you are facing 30 years inside, and your entire family, and friend, undergoing deep, really deep, investigation.

It includes everything from being Deep Throat to the WP, chatting about something on social media, to taking your work home. On the flip side, you do see a lot of over classification happening.

Hillary Clinton faced a similar investigation over emails. No charges, described as extremely careless. Sandy Berger removed material from the national archive, misdemeanor. James Comey; share private conversations, violated policy, no charges. Andrew McCabe, leaked to the press, found to have lacked candour, fired. Joe Biden, investigated. Mike Pence, investigated. Devin Nunes investigated. Adam Schiff investigated.

You have no idea if:

1. The leaks reported about the leaks have any veracity.

2. Whether Kent knew he was being investigated. If he knew he was being investigated, why post to Twitter his freaking resignation letter, instead of slinking away to the shadows? I can absolutely guarantee, if he had simply resigned, there would be no suggestion of a FBI investigation entering the public domain. Simply because, there are millions of breaches every day in government, mostly by numbskull non-career officials or politicians/wannabe politicians who have, charitably, a naive view of OpSec., little of which ever leads to litigation, because there is no public benefit.

You are quick to character assassinate, as I predicted. You also forget everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

I really couldn't careless whether he is guilty or not. If he is, he is indicative of the rotten, low quality individuals that make up this administration, who have put America, and to an extent, the world, into a position of extreme jeopardy, not because of malign intent, but because of sheer incompetance. Kent is an odious individual, and that's possibly why he was given the job, because his views of the world meshed with others.

Once again Trump 🤡 going after his perceived enemy's , this time

one who he appointed ,and at the time praised ,"If you leave me you

are going to be investigated " the threat to keep others in line ...there

has never been a more vindictive man than him ...

regards worgeordie

20 minutes ago, Roadsternut said:

Actually, what you are reading is a bunch of spin by the media based on the barest of details, themselves leaked anonymously.

The essence of the charges are "improperly shared classified information". The actual original report of the leak about a leak:

https://www.semafor.com/article/03/18/2026/fbi-investigates-national-security-aide-who-resigned-over-war

Not sure where you got the information about the charges being related to organising spying on citizens.

The immediate reaction from the Whitehouse to his resignation, as expressed by Leavett, was "disappointment", not "good riddance", that came a little later from the President who described Kent as "weak on security", and we all know he wasn't talking about Op-Sec.

Yes, many members of this government play fast and loose over the handling of classified information, starting at the top, with classified papers stored in a toilet at a golf club. There is no denying that happened, the contention is over the rights of a President to retain documents for whatever purpose he sees fit.

What about Signal Chat leaks; Mike Waltz "erroneously" added a journalist to a non-secure Signal chat involving Hegseth and Vance. While Waltz left his role as National Security Advisor, he sequed into the role of US Ambassador to the United Nations. Not exactly a demotion.

I've been in a world of handling such material. There are strict rules about how material is handled, where it can go, where it can't go. Literally, its possible if you lose material, you are facing 30 years inside, and your entire family, and friend, undergoing deep, really deep, investigation.

It includes everything from being Deep Throat to the WP, chatting about something on social media, to taking your work home. On the flip side, you do see a lot of over classification happening.

Hillary Clinton faced a similar investigation over emails. No charges, described as extremely careless. Sandy Berger removed material from the national archive, misdemeanor. James Comey; share private conversations, violated policy, no charges. Andrew McCabe, leaked to the press, found to have lacked candour, fired. Joe Biden, investigated. Mike Pence, investigated. Devin Nunes investigated. Adam Schiff investigated.

You have no idea if:

1. The leaks reported about the leaks have any veracity.

2. Whether Kent knew he was being investigated. If he knew he was being investigated, why post to Twitter his freaking resignation letter, instead of slinking away to the shadows? I can absolutely guarantee, if he had simply resigned, there would be no suggestion of a FBI investigation entering the public domain. Simply because, there are millions of breaches every day in government, mostly by numbskull non-career officials or politicians/wannabe politicians who have, charitably, a naive view of OpSec., little of which ever leads to litigation, because there is no public benefit.

You are quick to character assassinate, as I predicted. You also forget everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

I really couldn't careless whether he is guilty or not. If he is, he is indicative of the rotten, low quality individuals that make up this administration, who have put America, and to an extent, the world, into a position of extreme jeopardy, not because of malign intent, but because of sheer incompetance. Kent is an odious individual, and that's possibly why he was given the job, because his views of the world meshed with others.

There is no spin. The man was not involved in the Iran file. He did not gather information on Iran and he did not have access to the military intelligence upon which the intervention is based. Thaty was not his job.

Go back to last October and you will see that he initiated started his own investigation into the Charlie Kirk murder. It was unauthorized. Kirk was killed by a US citizen in the USA. Kent's department had no jurisdiction and did not have the mandate. He was engaged in inappropriate activity that had serious ramifications. It created a serious issue for the Trump administration at the time, and he was was being investigated. This was reported on last October.

The spin is the claim that this man has access to critical information and he did not. He department responsibilities did not involve the intelligence gathering that he says he had, and he had no involvement in the Iran file. His department;

• Operated the website that the public and general government offices can access for information on terrorism risk.

• Maintained the list of known terrorists and ensured that the public could access this list.

• Initiated the reduction in personnel in the bureacracy of the administration of information.

• Shared the information provided by the FBI and DOD with the general public.

Kent was in serious trouble and his claim is an attempt to build himself an excuse for when Congress and the FBI investigates the allegations of spying on US citizens.

On 3/19/2026 at 4:23 PM, Patong2021 said:

There is no spin. The man was not involved in the Iran file. He did not gather information on Iran and he did not have access to the military intelligence upon which the intervention is based. Thaty was not his job.

Go back to last October and you will see that he initiated started his own investigation into the Charlie Kirk murder. It was unauthorized. Kirk was killed by a US citizen in the USA. Kent's department had no jurisdiction and did not have the mandate. He was engaged in inappropriate activity that had serious ramifications. It created a serious issue for the Trump administration at the time, and he was was being investigated. This was reported on last October.

The spin is the claim that this man has access to critical information and he did not. He department responsibilities did not involve the intelligence gathering that he says he had, and he had no involvement in the Iran file. His department;

• Operated the website that the public and general government offices can access for information on terrorism risk.

• Maintained the list of known terrorists and ensured that the public could access this list.

• Initiated the reduction in personnel in the bureacracy of the administration of information.

• Shared the information provided by the FBI and DOD with the general public.

Kent was in serious trouble and his claim is an attempt to build himself an excuse for when Congress and the FBI investigates the allegations of spying on US citizens.

He also ordered the National Security Agency to change the conclusions of a report that found there was no basis to connect the Venezuelan government to the activities of the Tren de Agua cartel. And he got the 2 authors of the report fired.

Tulsi Gabbard's right-hand man Joe Kent under scrutiny after leaked emails surface. What is the controversy?

Read more at:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-tulsi-gabbards-right-hand-man-joe-kent-under-scrutiny-after-leaked-emails-surface-pushed-alter-intelligence-report/articleshow/121360841.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Joe Kent, who currently serves as chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, allegedly directed a group of intelligence officers to alter their report on Venezuelan gang activity, reports CBS News. US President Trump's nominee to head the National Counterterrorism Center is under fresh scrutiny as emails show he pressed senior intelligence analysts to amend an assessment of links between the Venezuelan government and the criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, known as TDA, the report said...In an email, Kent wrote, “We need to do some rewriting so this document is not used against the DNI or POTUS,” referring to Director of National Intelligence Gabbard and the President.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-tulsi-gabbards-right-hand-man-joe-kent-under-scrutiny-after-leaked-emails-surface-pushed-alter-intelligence-report/articleshow/121360841.cms

As I'm sure you will recall, Trump alleged that there were ties between the two. And he used that claim to invoke the Alien Enemies Security Act. That was the act used to justify sending alleged gang members to that infamous high security prison in El Salvador. Anyway, so much for claims that this conspiracy loon was a fighter for truth, justice and the American way.

9 minutes ago, Alan Zweibel said:

He also ordered the National Security Agency to change the conclusions of a report that found there was no basis to connect the Venezuelan government to the activities of the Tren de Agua cartel. And he got the 2 authors of the report fired.

Tulsi Gabbard's right-hand man Joe Kent under scrutiny after leaked emails surface. What is the controversy?

Read more at:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-tulsi-gabbards-right-hand-man-joe-kent-under-scrutiny-after-leaked-emails-surface-pushed-alter-intelligence-report/articleshow/121360841.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Joe Kent, who currently serves as chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, allegedly directed a group of intelligence officers to alter their report on Venezuelan gang activity, reports CBS News. US President Trump's nominee to head the National Counterterrorism Center is under fresh scrutiny as emails show he pressed senior intelligence analysts to amend an assessment of links between the Venezuelan government and the criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, known as TDA, the report said...In an email, Kent wrote, “We need to do some rewriting so this document is not used against the DNI or POTUS,” referring to Director of National Intelligence Gabbard and the President.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-tulsi-gabbards-right-hand-man-joe-kent-under-scrutiny-after-leaked-emails-surface-pushed-alter-intelligence-report/articleshow/121360841.cms

As I'm sure you will recall, Trump alleged that there were ties between the two. And he used that claim to invoke the Alien Enemies Security Act. That was the act used to justify sending alleged gang members to that infamous high security prison in El Salvador. Anyway, so much for claims that this conspiracy loon was a fighter for truth, justice and the American way.

I am unaware of this incident. If your version is accurate, he engaged in wrongful conduct. Tulsi is accountable for her department head and must accept some responsibility for not acting sooner. Although, she may not have been aware. As others have noted, she is one of the weaker performers in cabinet. Another error and she will be joining Noem.

The US, and many, many countries, have a long history of getting rid of whistleblowers.

Despite the Continental Congress enacting the world’s first whistleblower protection law on July 30, 1777, the US has always tried to suppress their dissent.

Google AI:

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks is the most prolific in exposing govt, banking and corporate malpractice: Collateral Murder video showing an attack by a US helicopter on 12 unarmed civilians in Baghdad including two Reuters journos; Iraq (400k docs) and Afghanistan (90k docs) war logs; Cablegate diplomatic cables with US diplomats’ frank description of foreign leaders (250k docs); Vault 7, CIA’s covert hacking tools; Guantanamo Files, prisoner abuses (700 docs).

WikiLeaks rocks. The author is an active member of WikiLeaks’ Advisory Board. Here are just a few I find important.

St Francis School of Law:

Edward Snowden: US NSA global surveillance and surveillance of Americans in America.

Daniel Ellsberg: Pentagon Papers, a secret US document about failures of the war on Vietnam.

Chelsea Manning: Docs exposing detention, abuse, torture of prisoners.

Joe Darby: Torture at Abu Ghraib and US black sites, including one in Thailand that may or may not still be active.

Plus numerous other govt whistleblowers.

The latest is Joe Kent. The Guardian: The report came as Kent, the first senior member of the administration to quit over the war, gave his first media interview since stepping down. Speaking to the rightwing commentator Tucker Carlson, he claimed that dissenting voices were effectively frozen out of the decision-making process that led to US airstrikes on Iran on 28 February.

Kent insisted that there was no evidence that Iran was close to gaining a nuclear weapon or posed an imminent threat to the US. “There was no intelligence that said, ‘Hey, on whatever day it was, March 1, the Iranians are going to launch this big sneak attack – they’re going to do some kind of a 9/11, Pearl Harbor, et cetera, they are going to attack one of our bases.’ There was none of that intelligence.”

Instead, Kent alleged, Trump’s hand was effectively forced by Israel. “The Israelis drove the decision to take this action,” he said, claiming that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials lobbied the president with claims that did not align with established intelligence channels.

Kent added: “I know how this works. I know the Israeli officials – some in intelligence, some in government – will come to US government officials and they will say all kinds of things that we know from our intelligence just simply isn’t true. They’ll say, ‘Hey, I’m giving you a preview, it’s not in intelligence channels yet, but here’s what’s gonna happen,’ and that doesn’t usually come to fruition.”

As a Green Beret, Kent saw combat in 11 deployments before retiring to join the CIA. He also endured tragedy: his wife, a navy cryptologist, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 in Syria, leaving him with two young sons. Kent, 45, has since remarried.