The departure of Joe Kent, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, means one less leaker in Washington, according to multiple reports.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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,” Kent wrote on X after splashing his resignation letter across social media.

Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, was quick to celebrate.

“Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” he wrote on X.

A senior administration official tells FOX, Joe Kent was:

-a known leaker and he was cut out of POTUS intelligence briefings months ago.

-the WH told DNI Tulsi Gabbard he should be fired for suspected leaks but she never did.

-he has not been part of any Iran planning…

— Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) March 17, 2026

Media reports said Kent had been leaking information and was already marginalized in the Trump administration.

“A senior administration official tells FOX, Joe Kent was: a known leaker and he was cut out of POTUS intelligence briefings months ago,” Aishah Hasnie of Fox News posted on X.

“He has not been part of any Iran planning discussions or briefings at all,” she posted.

“The WH told DNI Tulsi Gabbard he should be fired for suspected leaks but she never did,” Hasnie added.

NEW: Intelligence official tells @realDailyWire that it’s true that Joe Kent wasn’t part of the planning of the Iran war or briefings on the war.

It is not true that DNI’s Tulsi Gabbard was asked by the White House to fire Kent, source says— if she had been asked to do so, she…

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 17, 2026

A difference of opinion on Gabbard’s role came from Mary Margaret Olohan of The Daily Wire.

“It is not true that DNI’s Tulsi Gabbard was asked by the White House to fire Kent, source says — if she had been asked to do so, she would have fired him,” she posted on X.

She also noted “that it’s true that Joe Kent wasn’t part of the planning of the Iran war or briefings on the war.”

More allegations are emerging that Joe Kent leaked across multiple departments.

Some are saying he lost his security clearance and was likely on his way out.

Which begs the question: Is Joe just positioning himself for a forthcoming post-admin grift? https://t.co/Fh0Jv25J2o pic.twitter.com/rVXigPyERC

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 17, 2026

President Donald Trump said it was a “good thing” Kent left, according to Fox News.

“I read his statement,” Trump said. “I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.”

“I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy, but when I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out,” Trump said. “Because he said that Iran was not a threat.”

Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the…

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) March 17, 2026

“Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it,” Trump continued.

Trump reaffirmed that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

“If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrible deal that he made, the Iran nuclear deal, you would have had a nuclear war four years ago,” Trump said. “You would have had nuclear holocaust, and you would have had it again if we didn’t bomb the site.”

“So when somebody is working with us that says they didn’t think Iran was a threat: We don’t want those people,” he said. “They’re not smart people, or they’re not savvy people.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Breaking Report: Joe Kent Was Leaker Who Had Been Cut from President’s Intel Briefings for Months appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard swiftly crushed the narrative pushed by outgoing National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, making it crystal clear that President Trump acted lawfully, decisively, and with full intelligence backing when he ordered strikes against Iran.

Kent, who abruptly resigned on Tuesday, claimed in a public letter that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States and suggested the war was driven by outside influence from Israel rather than American interests.

In a statement posted after Kent’s resignation went public, Gabbard made it crystal clear where she stands.

“Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief.

As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions.

After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.”

Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our Commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat, and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the…

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) March 17, 2026

That statement directly undercuts Kent’s central claim and reaffirms the chain of command that Democrats and the media often try to blur when it’s politically convenient.

Kent, a former Green Beret and CIA officer, resigned Tuesday in protest of the administration’s military action against Iran. In his letter, he claimed:

• Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States
• The war was driven by “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”
• Trump had strayed from his original America First doctrine

President Trump didn’t mince words when asked about Kent’s departure.

“I always thought he was weak on security. Very weak on security,” Trump said, adding that Kent’s claim about Iran not being a threat proved “it’s a good thing he’s out.”

That blunt response aligns with the White House’s broader position: the Iran strike was not optional—it was necessary.

Officials have repeatedly pointed to intelligence suggesting Iran was preparing aggressive actions, including expanding missile capabilities and threatening U.S. forces and allies in the region.

The post DNI Tulsi Gabbard SHUTS DOWN Joe Kent’s Resignation Letter Claims — Backs President Trump’s Decisive Strike on Iran to Protect America First appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

This was first reported in October 2024 exclusively at The Gateway Pundit – by Jim Hoft and Patty McMurray

In 2025, unsealed court documents completely redefined what we were told to believe about the 2020 US presidential election.

The election was billed by the Democrat Party, Joe Biden, the mainstream media, and former CISA Chief Chris Krebs as the ‘most secure election’ in US history.

Chris Krebs, the former CISA Director, testified before Congress on December 16, 2020, after he was fired by Donald Trump.

Recently, unsealed court documents first reported by The Gateway Pundit in October 2024, completely redefined what we were told to believe about the 2020 US presidential election.

The election was billed by the Democrat Party, Joe Biden, the mainstream media, and former CISA Chief Chris Krebs as the most secure election in US history.

Chris Krebs, the former CISA Director fired by Donald Trump, testified before Congress on December 16, 2020, after he was fired.

Krebs was called to testify before the US Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee.

Krebs famously announced that day, “The 2020 election was the most secure in US history.”

WATCH:

But was 2020 really the most secure election in US history?

We now know definitively that Chris Krebs was lying when he made this announcement during congressional testimony in December 2020.

Today, nearly six years after the 2020 election, we have proof of a successful breach by one of America’s major enemies on our election infrastructure prior to Election Day and during early voting.

CISA officials released a report on October 30, 2020, JUST DAYS BEFORE the 2020 presidential election.

The report was never made public, and it omitted critical facts about a successful breach of a state’s election database days before the 2020 election.

Here is the CISA report, which was hidden for several years and discovered after investigative reporter Yehuda Miller obtained the information through a FOIA request earlier this year.

According to the CISA report from October 22, 2020:

SUBJECT: FBI Liaison Alert System (FLASH) – Indicators of Compromise Pertaining to Iranian Interference in the 2020 Presidential Election – TLP: WHITE

On 22 October 2020, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (Alert AA20-296B) warning that Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) actors are likely intent on influencing and interfering with the US elections to sow discord among voters and undermine public confidence in the US electoral process.

APT actors are creating fictitious media sites and spoofing legitimate media sites to spread anti-American propaganda and misinformation about voter suppression.

The attached FLASH contains a list of indicators of compromise (IOCs) and additional threat information pertaining to a threat group, assessed to be located in Iran, conducting operations aimed at influencing and interfering in the 2020 US Presidential Election.

The October 22 alert referenced above can be found at the following URL: https://uscert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-296b

Here is the report released on October 30, 2020, days before the US presidential election.

Thanks to Yehuda Miller for the FOIAed document.

We now know that this CISA report was completely dishonest and omitted critical facts.

We also know that Krebs and CISA lied about the security of the 2020 election in their Cyber Risk Summary, which was released after the election in 2021.

We know this for a fact because Krebs, Chris Wray, and CISA COMPLETELY OMITTED the fact that the Iranian regime successfully breached one state’s voter roll database and used the names, Social Security, and Driver’s License numbers to fill out UOCAVA or overseas ballot registrations!

This tiny fact was omitted from Kreb’s report, and Chris Wray and DOJ Chief Bill Barr ignored it!

They all lied and hid this from the American public for FOUR YEARS!

As Patty McMurray and Jim Hoft at The Gateway Pundit reported on Wednesday, Iranian Hackers Broke Into the State’s Voter Roll Database – Used Names, SS, and Driver’s License # numbers to Fill Out UOCAVA Registrations – Shared Video of Their Actions Online!

BOMBSHELL: Iranian Hackers Broke Into State’s Voter Roll Database – Used Names, SS and Driver’s License #’s to Fill Out UOCAVA Registrations – Shared Video of Their Actions Online!

The Iranians interfered with the 2020 presidential election, and they were successful in their efforts to access the voter information from one state election website, Alaska.

The two Iranians were indicted for, among other things, computer intrusion, voter intimidation, and interstate threat offenses for their alleged participation in a multi-faceted campaign aimed at influencing and interfering with the United States 2020 Presidential Election.

The Iranian hacker's group allegedly loaded a shocking video at the time that revealed how easily stolen voter registration data could be used to inject fake voters into the UOCAVA (non-military) registration website and then turned into voters.

The Southern District of New York recently released this sealed indictment from October 20, 2021, and it is explosive!

From the October 2021 indictment (this was hidden from the American public until one month ago!):

In or about September and October 2020, SEYYED MOHAMMAD HOSEIN MUSA KAZEMI, a/k/a ~'Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazem," a/k/a "Hosein Zamani," the defendant, compromised a server located abroad (the "Overseas Server") in order to send out the Voter Threat Emails.

The first phase of the Voter Intimidation and Influence Campaign occurred in or about September and October 2020, when the members of the conspiracy conducted reconnaissance on, and attempted to compromise, approximately eleven state voter websites, including state voter registration websites and state voter information websites.

These efforts resulted in the successful exploitation of misconfigured computers of a particular U.S. state ("State-1"), Alaska, and the resulting unauthorized downloading of voter information for more than 100,000 (State-1)  voters.

In their sealed indictment, US Attorney Damian Williams downplays the significance of the US elections video shared by the Iranian hackers. The video shows what appears to be files of voter data stolen from multiple states, including Alaska.

WATCH:

In their indictment, the government appears to downplay the serious threat the video reveals to our nation's election security.

The Gateway Pundit has confirmed with an anonymous source that the names, social security numbers, and driver’s license numbers of Alaska citizens in the video are legitimate.

For four years, Chris Wray, Bill Barr, Chris Krebs, and CISA hid this information from the American public.

PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!

The post Chris Wray and Chris Krebs Lied to the American Public for 6 Years — They Knew Iranians Breached US Election System in 2020, Stole 100,000 Identities, and Then POSTED VIDEO ONLINE of the Stolen Data Being Used to Create UOCAVA Ballots — And Hid This From American People! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Joe Kent, the outgoing Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), stunned Washington on Tuesday by announcing his resignation in a public protest against the ongoing war in Iran.

Kent took aim at Trump’s administration’s foreign policy, claiming Iran poses “no imminent threat” and blaming the conflict on “pressure from Israel” and its “powerful American lobby.”

He also said that the Trump administration had been misled into war by a “misinformation campaign.”

In a post on X, Kent, a veteran and Gold Star husband, claimed he could no longer support the war in good conscience.

“After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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.

It has been an honor serving under @POTUS and @DNIGabbard and leading the professionals at NCTC.

May God bless America.”

The accompanying letter to President Trump was even worse.

Kent claimed Trump “understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars” until “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” supposedly tricked him into this conflict.

Kent said in his letter:

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.

I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. 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. It was an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation.”

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026

When asked about Kent’s resignation during an Oval Office meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, President Trump didn’t hold back.

“I always thought he was weak on security. Very weak on security.”

Trump added that Kent’s statement confirmed his concerns:

“When I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat.”

But Trump didn’t stop there.

Shortly after, he posted a screenshot on Truth Social that may have just obliterated Kent’s credibility.

President Trump posted a brutal screenshot of Kent’s own words from January 8, 2020, right after Trump took out terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani. In that old tweet, Kent demanded:

“@realDonaldTrump We should not sit and wait for the next attack, wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out and get our troops out of Iraq – they are only targets now. No US WIA/KIA is a tribute to the professionalism of our military and intel professionals not Iranian restraint.”

That single post directly contradicts Kent’s current claim. In 2020, Kent was calling for Trump to “wipe out” Iranian capabilities. Today, he claims Iran is “no threat.” What changed?

The Gateway Pundit dug through Joe Kent’s entire X history on Iran, and the flip-flopping is staggering.

On April 20, 2024, Kent warned that “Iran is poised to attack” and blamed the “DC war machine” for leaving US troops vulnerable.

“Iran is poised to attack, Biden & the DC war machine has given them plenty of options to harm us by leaving our troops deployed in small bases in Iraq, Syria & Jordan. Biden also gave Iran the funding for its proxies to attack us & Israel. The solution isn’t billions more in foreign aid & adding more U.S. troops to the region, it’s cutting off Iran’s access to funding, depriving them of targets.”

Iran is poised to attack, Biden & the DC war machine has given them plenty of options to harm us by leaving our troops deployed in small bases in Iraq, Syria & Jordan.

Biden also gave Iran the funding for its proxies to attack us & Israel.

The solution isn’t billions more in…

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) April 12, 2024

September 25, 2024: He acknowledged that “Iran has been after Trump since January of 2020” and called it a persistent threat.

“Iran has been after Trump since January of 2020 after he ordered the targeted killing of the terrorist Qasem Soleimani. This isn’t a new threat. The secret service consistently failing to secure Trump is new. We need to figure out exactly why these failures keep happening.”

Iran has been after Trump since January of 2020 after he ordered the targeted killing of the terrorist Qasem Soleimani.

This isn’t a new threat.

The secret service consistently failing to secure Trump is new.

We need to figure out exactly why these failures keep happening. https://t.co/UprKS9SGLW

— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) September 25, 2024

In 2022, Kent also released a statement on “Support for Israel and Opposition to Antisemitism.”

Kent said in a statement:

One of the best things that President Trump did for the security of the United States and of Israel was terminating President Obama’s Iran Deal.

I support working with Israel to apply maximum pressure against Iran’s government and its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, and to prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Expanding Peace in the Middle East I will support efforts to recognize and expand the normalization efforts between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, to ensure peace and bolster the coalition that stands in opposition to Iran.

I also support a sustainable, two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that is negotiated directly between these parties without undue international influence that pressures Israel to make compromises that are not in its national interests.

Kent repeatedly acknowledged Iran as a serious and active threat until his abrupt resignation narrative flipped the script.

It seems President Trump was right. Kent was either overwhelmed by the job or simply didn’t have the stomach for the tough decisions required to keep America safe.

The post President Trump Just ENDED Joe Kent’s Entire Career With One Brutal Screenshot of an Old Tweet appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a brutal smackdown to disgruntled ex-National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent’s resignation letter, exposing his claims as nothing but a string of dangerous lies and Democrat-style propaganda.

Kent, who had reportedly been sidelined as a “known leaker” and cut out of President Trump’s sensitive intelligence briefings months ago according to Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, announced his resignation effective immediately in protest of the Operation Epic Fury against the Iranian terror regime.

The White House was having none of it.

Leavitt issued a fiery statement that directly torched Kent’s core assertion that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” calling it the same false narrative pushed by Democrats and the liberal media.

Here is the full statement from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

“There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over.

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

This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.

Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.

The Iranian regime is evil. It proudly killed Americans, waged war against our country, and openly threatened us all the way up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury.

Iran was aggressively expanding their short-range ballistic missiles to combine with their naval assets to give themselves immunity – meaning they would have a degree of a capabilities that would give them immunity to hold us and the rest of the world hostage.

The regime aimed to use those ballistic missiles as a shield to continue achieving their ultimate goal – nuclear weapons.

The President, through his top negotiators, gave the regime every single possible opportunity to abandon this unacceptable course by permanently giving up their nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, free nuclear fuel, and potential economic partnerships with our country.

But they would not say yes to peace because obtaining nuclear weapons was their fundamental goal.

President Trump ultimately made the determination that a joint attack with Israel would greatly reduce the risk to American lives that would come from a first strike by the terrorist Iranian regime and address this imminent threat to America’s national security interests.

All of this led to President Trump arriving at the determination that this military operation was necessary for U.S. national security, which is why he launched the massively successful Operation Epic Fury.

The Commander-in-Chief determines what does and does not constitute a threat, because he is the one constitutionally empowered to do so – and because the American people went to the ballot box and entrusted him and him alone to make such final judgments.

And finally, the absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable. President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran can NEVER possess a nuclear weapon.

As someone who actually witnesses President Trump’s decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what’s in the best interest of the United States of America — period.

America First.”

There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over.

As President Trump has clearly and… https://t.co/AC8M5L8lye

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 17, 2026

The post White House Issues Brutal Smackdown of Joe Kent’s Resignation Letter, Torches His “Lies” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.