Joe Kent, who resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center last week in opposition to the Iran war, has denied leaking sensitive information during a fiery interview with hawkish conservative pundit Mark Levin.
Kent, a former Green Beret and CIA operator, stood down last week by issuing a scathing open letter to President Donald Trump, in which he insisted Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S. and alleged that Israel had dictated American involvement in the conflict.
It was subsequently reported that Kent is under federal investigation over allegations that he mishandled classified information, an accusation he had already denied during an interview with Megyn Kelly on Friday, saying he had done nothing wrong and that it was part of the Trump administration’s “playbook.”
When the same issue was raised by Levin on his radio show Monday, Kent told the pro-Israel hawk, “I never leaked any classified information. And the stories you’re reading are stories from leakers who are leaking, I guess, maybe, an investigation about me being a leaker. So I think it’s just a media counter-narrative.”
He also denied ever being contacted by the FBI or the Department of Justice over the matter.
Pressed by Levin on whether his former boss, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, shared his hostility to the war, having previously opposed attacking Iran, Kent answered simply: “You’d have to ask her. I’m not going to speak for Tulsi Gabbard.”
Elsewhere during their conversation, Levin challenged his guest on the timing of his resignation and accused him of living in an anti-war “echo chamber,” to which Kent reacted by alleging the host had lobbied Trump to launch his strikes against Tehran.
“Hey, hey! Pay attention to me!” Levin snapped. “I never lobbied the president. You guys keep putting that crap out there. I met with the president once at his request. And I said to the president – you ready for this, Joe? – I said, ‘They’re saying out there that I’m lobbying you.’
“You know what he did? He laughed. You know what he said? ‘Mark. I know where you stand. I watch your show on Saturday and Sunday.’”
Kent then argued that Levin had used “the power of your show” to influence Trump, which the presenter rejected as “absolutely ridiculous.”
In a wild and often adversarial encounter, Levin called Kent “extremely conspiratorial” over his claims of excessive Israeli influence over the Trump administration.
“Did the intelligence agencies miss 9/11, or was that the Israelis too? Did they miss Pearl Harbor, or was that the Israelis too?” Levin asked.
“I’m really worried about you, brother. I really am. When you were first on my show, you seemed pretty straightforward and sane about this stuff.”
“I am pretty straightforward,” Kent countered. “I don’t think a foreign government should be allowed to dictate when we go to war.”
Levin replied: “I don’t think they did. I think the president made the decision. You keep mentioning Israelis – it’s getting very boring and silly. The president made the decision.”
Kent’s resignation has further inflamed existing tensions among conservatives over the war.
“I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for,” the official told the president.
“The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.”
Levin was previously involved in a multi-part feud with Kelly, in which the latter resorted to some highly personal insults regarding his anatomy, cheered on by former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, among others.
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