• Kent doubles down, insists no intel indicated an Iranian ‘sneak attack’
• Sources say ‘months-long’ investigation predated his departure

WASHINGTON: The FBI is investigating a former senior US counterterrorism official for allegedly leaking classified information, US media reported open Wednesday, a day after he resigned in protest against the war with Iran.

The probe into Joseph Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), predated his shock departure on Tuesday, according to outlets including The New York Times and CBS, which both cited unnamed sources.

A source also told the news website Semafor that the investigation was “months-long”.

In his resignation letter to President Donald Trump, Kent wrote that “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 FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an interview with right-wing broadcaster Tucker Carlson posted late on Wednesday, the 45-year-old Kent doubled down on his view that Iran was not an imminent threat.

“There was no intelligence that said, ‘Hey, on whatever day it was... the Iranians are going to launch this big sneak attack. They’re going to do some kind of a 9/11 Pearl Harbor,’” said Kent, an ex-special forces soldier.

He said Israel “drove the decision” to go to war, with the US knowing that the Iranians would retaliate.

“I think that it’s fine that we offer defence to Israel. But when we’re providing the means for their defence, we get to dictate the terms of when they go on the offensive,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump accused Kent of being “very weak on security” and said it’s a “good thing that he’s out”.

Kent was appointed by Trump to head the NCTC, where he worked under Tulsi Gabbard.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026