Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent hits again over FBI leak probe in Megyn Kelly interview: ‘I did nothing wrong’ | EUROtoday

Joe Kent, who served as President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism chief, has pushed again in opposition to stories that he’s beneath FBI investigation, insisting he “did nothing wrong” and denouncing the alleged probe as a “sideshow.”

Kent resigned because the director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday over his staunch opposition to the conflict in Iran, which he claimed Trump had been deceived into beginning. The subsequent day, a number of information retailers reported that the FBI had opened an investigation into Kent over allegations he inappropriately shared labeled materials.

“As for the leak allegations, I’m not concerned because I know I did nothing wrong,” Kent instructed Megyn Kelly, a well-liked conservative podcaster, in an interview launched on Friday.

“Of course, I am concerned because we’ve all seen the FBI and the full weight of the government come down on individuals who speak out,” he added. “So that has me a little concerned but I know the truth and the facts are on my side.”

Kelly, one in every of a number of proper‑wing media figures to talk out in opposition to the conflict, famous that Trump and his allies have relentlessly attacked Kent, branding him as weak and even accusing him of treason. She requested whether or not the fallout from his resignation had angered him.

“It does anger me,” he stated. “But it’s all just to be expected. I knew this was going to happen. I know their playbook.”

He additionally insinuated that the bureau’s investigation might not even be actual.

“If there truly was an FBI investigation — and who knows maybe there will be — then there would be a process and a procedure for that. They would actually formally come to me, and if they were still collecting information they most certainly wouldn’t leak it,” Kent stated.

When reached for remark by The Independentan FBI spokesperson declined to touch upon the probe.

“I feel very confident in what I’m doing right now,” Kent added. “I think I have a mission, and I think it is to do everything I can to stop this war. To me I kind of view everything else as a sideshow.”

Kent’s interview with Kelly is amongst a number of media appearances he has made since posting his resignation letter to X on Tuesday morning, which rapidly went viral and drew greater than 100 million views.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote. “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 20-year Army veteran — whose Navy officer spouse died whereas serving in Syria — added that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people.”

Kent expanded on his resolution to go away the administration in an interview with Tucker Carlson launched on Wednesday. He instructed Carlson that the Israelis “drove the decision” to go to conflict and that Iran was not on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb.

He additionally claimed that, throughout his tenure, he was blocked from investigating the September assassination of Charlie Kirk, which he insinuated might have been carried out by international actors.

The White House — which was reportedly caught off guard by Kent’s sudden departure — has dismissed his resolution as inconsequential.

Trump stated he “realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out” after studying his resignation letter on Tuesday. The president additionally characterised Kent as “weak on security.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to as the episode “laughable” and took challenge with the ex-counterrorism chief’s declare that Iran posed no imminent risk to the U.S.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt wrote on X.

Recent polls present {that a} majority of Americans are against the conflict in Iran, which has now entered its third week.