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Home » Who is Joe Kent and why was he the director of the National Counterterrorism Center?

Who is Joe Kent and why was he the director of the National Counterterrorism Center?

The New Neo Posted on by

There’s been some chatter about Joe Kent’s resignation letter:

Joe Kent, a top aide to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, took to X Tuesday morning to announce his resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), writing, “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.”

Kent, an Army veteran who has two failed congressional runs on his resume, also posted his official resignation letter, and tweeted, “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.”

I don’t think the Kent letter means much to anyone who didn’t already agree with it – such as the left and the Tucker wing of the ex-right. In it, Kent parrots the Tucker line. The government and the military disagree, as does Trump:

Trump was more than happy to show Kent the exit. “When somebody is working with us that says they didn’t think Iran was a threat, we don’t want those people,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “There are some people, I guess, that would say that, but they’re not smart people or they’re not savvy people. Iran was a tremendous threat.”

Who is Kent, and why was he appointed in the first place?:

Joseph Clay Kent (born April 11, 1980) is an American politician, former United States Army warrant officer, and former Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary officer who served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center from 2025 to 2026. …
Kent enlisted in the 75th Ranger Regiment and applied for the Special Forces before the September 11 attacks. He served eleven combat tours, primarily in Iraq, and retired in 2018, becoming a paramilitary officer with the CIA. In January 2019, Kent’s wife, Shannon, was killed in a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria. He became involved in political advocacy after Shannon’s death.

In 2022, Kent was the Republican nominee for Washington’s third congressional district.

He wasn’t elected, but he supported Trump back then because Trump said he didn’t want to start wars. Later, Trump chose him for the intelligence job in February 2025, very early in his second term.

Kent claimed in his resignation note that Israel had pressured the US into starting the Iraq War, although Kent wasn’t in the government then and had no special knowledge of what happened. In addition, those who did have such knowledge say that the Israeli government at the time warned the US not to start the war because Iran should be the focus instead.

More about Kent’s run for office in 2021 [emphasis mine]:

In September, Trump endorsed Kent. His prominence was bolstered by Tucker Carlson, who had frequently had Kent as guest on the Fox News program Tucker Carlson Tonight (2016–2023).

So – surprise, surprise – Kent was a Tucker Carlson protege. I wonder whether Tucker recommended him for the government position in 2025.

Kent didn’t last long in the administration’s good graces. For months before his departure there were problems:

In October, The New York Times reported Kent had obtained access to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s files on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, alarming the bureau’s director, Kash Patel. According to The Wall Street Journal, Kent had been sidelined from the team responsible for producing and delivering the President’s Daily Brief in the final months of his tenure.

Kent has been against military intervention in general after his Iraq deployment:

Kent is a non-interventionist, citing his military experience and the death of his wife. He began to question the management of the U.S. military during the Iraq War, when officials sought to eliminate members of Saddam Hussein’s government. According to Mother Jones, Kent read David Hackworth’s memoir About Face (1990), a book critical of the “clerks at the top” directing the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War. He defended Trump’s pardons of two Army officers convicted of Uniform Code of Military Justice offenses, Mathew L. Golsteyn and Clint Lorance, and his intervention in the case of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL involved in a high-profile war crimes case; in an interview with The New York Times in November 2019, Kent compared Gallagher’s case with that of Chelsea Manning.

During the early days of the Ukraine War Kent quickly aligned with the pro-Russia anti-Ukraine wing such as Carlson:

He stated Russian president Vladimir Putin’s demands for Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts were “very reasonable”. His comments on Tucker Carlson Tonight denouncing support for Ukraine as deterring a peace deal were repeated by TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency. In September 2023, Kent described the Biden administration’s strategy as immoral, arguing that the U.S. is fueling a prolonged war that is “unsustainable” for Ukraine. Kent has specifically stated that the policy uses the Ukrainian civilian population as “cannon fodder”, describing drafted Ukrainian soldiers—whom he characterizes as formerly everyday workers and students—as being sent to die in a “muddy ditch” in a war he believes they cannot win. He has argued that by providing continuous aid, the U.S. prevents a necessary, albeit likely painful, peace deal from being brokered.[

So he’s consistent on this. He doesn’t have any special or new information, nor has he experienced some sort of soul-searching political change. Au contraire.

The real question isn’t about Kent’s resignation – it’s about why he was appointed in the first place, and why he stayed in his position as long as he did.

Comments

Who is Joe Kent and why was he the director of the National Counterterrorism Center? — 42 Comments

  1. It’s being reported (Fox News) that Kent is under FBI investigation for leaking classified information. Leaks that purportedly predate his resignation.

  2. Apparently Joe Kent has difficulty making up his mind. Or he has no difficulty in speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

    Joe Kent Previously Argued Iran Was Threat to the USA, Pushed for Wiping Out Nuclear, Missile Capabilities

    On January 8, 2020, Kent wrote:
    “Trump’s restraint shows that he wants a deal with Iran & his red line is American loss of life & IR nuke development.
    In that thread, he also shared the following: “Additional sanctions will only be effective if they address Iran’s access to the Iraqi economy.
    Trump’s responses have been very measured. He has gone against both R&D conventional thinking & advice.
    This is nuance accounts for Trump’s appeal with those skeptical of our wars.”
    He further stated: “I personally think we should have crushed their ballistic & nuke capes, but Trump has a plan, he has definitely earned the confidence of any clear eyed observer.”

    I am reminded of John Kerry’s saying that he voted for the $87 billion dollar bill before he voted against it. Or was that vice versa?

  3. Despite a ringer like Kent, Trump47 is doing much better than Trump45 on personnel choices. It would not surprise me if Carlson was somehow involved in Kent’s selection. VP Vance still has not broken ties with Carlson.

  4. Kent met with Vance and Gabbard the day before he posted his resignation letter on X. Vance said he advised Kent to talk to Susie Wiles and the President before making the decision to resign.
    Vance also told Kent to be respectful. Might be why he concluded his letter with “It was an honor to serve in your administration…” after accusing the President of being duped by sinister forces.
    I don’t know whether or not Kent tried to meet with Wiles or the President.

    I don’t think there is anything wrong with Gabbard and Vance meeting with Kent. Nothing conspiratorial.

  5. Brian, yes you are right. But Dems and others that have TDO will not see it that way.

  6. Kent’s support of war with Iran before he opposed it and resigned is a little reminiscent of Fisher and Churchill in WWI. But Jackie Fisher was a legend, and his leaving crippled the government and resulted in the ouster of Churchill. I’m not sure Kent Smith rises even to the level of an urban myth, and I’m quite sure the DNI will be able to carry on without him.

  7. What Gringo said.

    Some journalist (or “journalist”) might wanna ask Kent about that(!).

    Hey, maybe Tucker’ll do it….

  8. Regardless, the guy was in the 75 th Ranger Regiment and served 11 combat tours.

    He has done way more than most of his critics.

    And then lost his wife in a foreign war.

    I can see how he might view things, even though I do see Iran as a threat that needed to be delt with.

  9. …I can see how he might view things, even though I do see Iran as a threat that needed to be delt with.

    The thing is, so did he…and not all that long ago.

    Wonder what made him change his mind.

  10. Related:

    “Media, lawmakers downplay threat from the Iran regime, but evidence shows the true scope of danger”—
    https://justthenews.com/government/security/media-and-lawmakers-downplay-threat-iran-regime-public-evidence-shows-true

    + Bonus (for one’s “entertainment”):

    “A PARTY IN LONDONISTAN”—
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/03/a-party-in-londonistan.php

    Curious graf:
    “…It is mystifying that Sir Keir Starmer, having promised in opposition to proscribe the IRGC, still hasn’t done it, even after the EU has.…”

    Mystifying?
    Methinks NOT…

  11. He was an Army Ranger. He became a politician. Honor among politician is a rare thing indeed. You deal with the man that is and mourn the man that was.

  13. Kent will receive a substantial cash advance for his forthcoming ghost written book – not yet announced – and he will go on a speaking tour and charge $50 K per appearance – not yet announced .
    This will all begin after he makes the rounds with the MSM, all the talk shows and social media blogs.

  14. There’s this as well. Heather (current Mrs. Joe) Kent wrote for The Grayzone, a leftist, anti-Israel “news”letter run by Max Blumenthal, son of Sidney Blumenthal, who is also well known for his leftist screeds in The Nation, AlterNet, The Daily Beast, Al Akhbar, Mondoweiss, and Media Matters for America and Al Jazeera English. So despite her and her husband’s history of (one hopes) honorable service, they both eventually gravitated toward Jew-hating ideological positions. Reminiscent of the Tucker Carlson ideological arc, so it appears that birds of a feather do, indeed flock together in marriage and career.

  15. Kent’s wife – Shannon Kent was a Navy linguist and intelligence specialist, who was apparently really something, and was much mourned by her peers after her death in a terrorist bombing in Syria. One of those brilliant, athletic, multi-skilled, hard-charging and respected women and peerless leaders of other people who make the rest of us feel totally inadequate. Oh, and she had two children with Kent, ran marathons and created mosaics, aside from being a ground-level operations military intelligence operator.
    I wonder if Joe Kent – who must be a person with pretty strongly-held opinions and who was previously strongly in favor of taking Iran out, militarily – just butted heads personally with others in Hegseth’s War Department, and the resignation is more because of a personal clash.

  17. JD isn’t guilty because of his associates, but his shelf date (“use or freeze before … “) isn’t infinite.

    Rubio and DeSantis don’t have this baggage.

  18. The inconvenient fact here is that Kent, along with the rest of the Tucker Carlson/Candace Owens faction were very much a part of the coalition that elected Trump in 2024. Trump absolutely cultivated their support with repeated statements like “I am the candidate of peace. I am peace.” and “I’m not going to start wars. I’m going to stop wars.” Trump’s repeated railing against the Iraq war was part of that too.

    For one, it’s not at all surprising that these folks believe that they have received the bait-and-switch from Trump. They have.

    For another, pretending to have just now discovered that a lot of these folks are cranks and trying to pretend that they were never true MAGA just isn’t going to work. They’ve been part of MAGA all along. And the Trump coalition doesn’t win without them.

  20. CC™ up to his usual.

    The Great Orange Whale (TGOW) with 100% approval from MAGA voters just doesn’t fit his delusions.

    Who is the true crank? CC™, he’s just not in that other bin of cranks, with Tucker, Kelly, Owens, and Vine. But CC™, crank that he is, loathes TGOW all the same.

  21. I wouldn’t be too quick in dismissing Kent, a man of remarkable patriotism. I think we here represent conventional wisdom to a large degree.
    And just because Kent shares some views with Carlson does not negate him. It is well to listen to the Kents that have opinions different than ours. And chew on them.

  22. Trump wants world peace. So too do most of us. Some people just need killing though.

  23. Not sure if his (Kent’s) patriotism died when he joined the axis of anti-semites (Tucker, Owens, Kelly, and the left) but then Benedict Arnold was a patriot early on.

    John Lindberg thought the Nazis had some good plans too, although he did fly combat missions against the Japanese.

    Tucker is despicable, how do you wash that off?

  24. So what is it?
    Insanity on stilts?
    Or just crazy enough to be …the Truth…?

    “Kent Tells Tucker: ‘Imminent Threat’ Was From Israel, Not Iran; Ordered To Halt Charlie Kirk Investigation”—
    (Or does it even matter, orchestrated precisely, as it is, to accelerate the unstoppable end-game so sorely desired by Tucker Carson’s handlers?)

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kent-tells-tucker-imminent-threat-was-israel-not-iran-ordered-halt-charlie-kirk

  26. Charles Lindbergh, not John Lindbergh.

    Face plant!

    The John Lindbergh that I know is a geologist, not a world famous aviation pioneer.

  27. except his previous statements, make him look rather ridiculous, did he leak to the Times to MS Clown, or other outlets, who have the usual suspects, did the new wife, who has ties to Greyzone, although her one contribution was relatively uncontroversial,

    Intelligence can lead to the ‘wilderness of mirrors’ that supposedly consumed angleton, in his later years certainly to ignore the so called Antifa animus aimed at Kirk in the last year, and other associates,

    as to the utilitiy of the NCTC, whose first chair was John Brennan, according to Buck Sexton, it
    competes with the CTC for resources and duplicates most of it’s product,

    much like the DNI which came out of the 9-11 commission reports, which I haven’t seem much useful work toward,

    the end lesson of such empire building seems to have expanded the number of analytical nodes but not much clarity,

  28. Kent beat a reasonably conservative several term Congressman in the 3rd district and then lost the seat to the Dems. The 3rd has been mostly GOP since 1994, but will go Dem if the GOP picks a kook. Thanks Joe.

  29. Woopsie:

    “…Or just crazy enough to be… SEEM LIKE…the Truth…”

    There. Fixed it…
    – – – – – – –
    miguel, what I don’t quite get is the part about the Israelis being essentially responsible for the death of his first wife.
    I don’t know enough about the details (and I wonder if they can even be found).

    Has it become some sort of bizarre revenge fantasy??
    A savage blood feud?
    Is that it?

  30. China buys 90% of Iran’s oil. Iran was the 4th largest oil exporter. The prospect of China losing Iranian-supplied oil isn’t likely to make Xi smile. Not does the performance of his Temu weapons systems.

    But Joe Kent (Clark Kent in his own mind) is an intelligent analyst?

    So President Trump is responsible for the death of Joe’s wife in 2019? Or was it the Jews? But Joe went to work for President Trump in 2025 and is betraying that trust now? Joe has some ‘splainen to do. Probably under oath.

  31. I think Lindberg’s original concern was that the Luftwaffe could easily beat the Army Air Corps as it was, Unlike the portrayals by Phillip Roth, I don’t think he really had fascist sympathies, but he had misgivings about how the war would turn out,

    the problem, with the way these wars have been conducted over the last 20 years, ending ignominiosly, at the abbey gates, well that left a bitter taste, the rise of the islamic state, which has been suppressed but not eliminated, which was cettainly exacerbated by some decisions like debaathification, early on in the Iraq war a well as the selection of Maliki,
    (who seems to be coming back up like a bad penny)

    no that was at the hands of the islamic state, which have deep roots in the culture of Syria as well as Iraq,

    furthermore why was the attitude toward the Hezbollah cells in country, been muted, besides the Dems relying on WAyne county, to hold the state, there was tacit support to some figures, to carry the State for Trump,

  32. From the Wikipedia entry on Manbij, Syria (not Manjbi, as written in the Zerohedge article):

    …On 15 January 2019, a suicide attack in Manbij claimed by ISIL left at least 19 casualties. Among them, four U.S. military personnel were reported dead and three wounded. One of the dead was a U.S. Army soldier, one was U.S. Navy sailor Shannon M. Kent, one was a U.S. Department of Defense civilian working in support of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and one was an employee of Valiant Integrated Services, a contractor supporting American operations.[62]….

    Footnote [62] I links to this account of the attack:

    “Americans slain in Syria attack: A Green Beret, a former SEAL and two language specialists”—
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-identifies-three-of-the-four-americans-killed-in-syria-suicide-bombing/2019/01/18/5c9f31b8-1b1e-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html

  33. Kent’s allegations appear to employ quite a bit of baiting and switching.

    And of course, Carlson’s getting all emotional and righteously indignant…

    Here’s that quote about his first wife’s death:

    …Kent announced his resignation Tuesday, citing his opposition to the ongoing U.S. war with Iran, and his belief that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to America – while asserting in his resignation letter that his wife died in “a war manufactured by Israel” in a 2019 suicide bombing in Manjbi, Syria….
    [Emphasis mine; Barry M.]

  34. I think Kent’s “reasoning” (if you can call it that) wrt his wife being killed by ISIL was that anyone opposed to Assad must have been allied with Israel. In the real world that’s what Israel’s enemies like to do to each other when they don’t have a Jew to gas.

  36. Barry Meislin:

    I think it’s basically that Kent adheres to the philosophy that the Jews are an evil cabal that controls everything, especially everything bad. Therefore, they want wars. Israel wanted the war in Iraq (even though they didn’t). The war in Iraq led to the growth of ISIS. His wife was murdered by ISIS terrorists in a suicide bombing in Syria. Therefore, Israel killed his wife. And now Israel caused us to go to war with Iran.

  37. Carlson continues to outdo himself….

    Tucker Carlson disgustingly defends 1930s British fascist Oswald Mosley….

    https://instapundit.com/783874/

    OTOH, might this be what he’s being fed…though by whom exactly? Someone’s pressing buttons in pretty sophomore-ish fashion…(which might characterise/implicate whom…? Hey, how about a Holocaust cartoon competition!)

  38. the problem is washington state, which has gone completely nutz in any number of waves, including all in on mail ballots, was able to ‘steal’ that seat, (there were the usual hanky panky in that race)

    yes there was a broad consensus about intervening in Iraq, arguing over the timing, whether one needed to start the campaign, so soon after the Afghan campaign

    not a few sensible like General McCrystal (although subsequent behavior has caused me to revisit his attitude,) had doubts about this counrse of action

  39. Neo, maybe that’s it—maybe—but to me it sounds just a bit too pat. Too manufactured. Too prompted.

    Kent’s filling in ALL the boxes. Hitting ALL the right buttons. Almost TOO PERFECT, as it were.

    Here’s a question…(which may have already been asked):

    Why did he wait almost two weeks before making his move?

  40. Oswald Mosley?

    WTF? Tucker has gone full fash maroon. What’s next “brown shorts” as in P G Wodehouse? Roderick Spode is Tucker’s man.

    And I thought Nazi chic was just for candidates for the Maine senator’s election.

  41. Barry Meislin:

    Maybe he had to get some ducks lined up?

    He’s also been under investigation for leaking to the media (Carlson? Owens? Kelly? Who knows?). That no doubt was part of his motive although I’m not sure how it affects the timing.

    I recall that only a couple of days ago, Carlson accused the CIA of spying on him to build a case that he is communicating with a foreign government (Iran?). I wonder if this information was imparted to him through Kent. Did this have something to do with the timing of Kent’s resignation? Kent has just appeared on Tucker’s show.

  42. If that is indeed the case…(speaking of getting “ducks lined up”…)

    Though, I suppose considering the rumors together with the timing, this might well be a pre-emptive, self-defense gambit by those two pin-ups providing what they believe to be mutual support while enfilading the perfect foe to provide a useful distraction / smokescreen…

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