2 months ago
The counter-terrorism charismatic who resigned from Donald Trump’s administration complete nan US and Israel’s war against Iran has said he is bracing for governmental retribution – but would do it each again anyway.
Asked by blimpish podcaster Megyn Kelly if he was concerned astir a pre-existing FBI search investigating him for leaking classified information, Kent said he was ambivalent.
He was “not concerned because I cognize I did thing wrong”. But, alluding to nan measurement nan Trump administration has sought to criminally prosecute group nan president considers enemies, he added: “Of course, I americium concerned because we’ve each seen nan afloat weight of nan FBI and nan authorities travel down connected individuals who speak out.”
“That has maine a small spot concerned,” he besides told Kelly on her podcast connected Friday. “But I cognize that nan truth and nan facts are connected my side.
“The important issues to reside are what’s astatine manus – why we’re astatine warfare and really we get retired of nan authorities that we’re successful correct now.”
A erstwhile US service typical forces veteran, Kent resigned arsenic nationalist counter-terrorism halfway head connected Tuesday and has since been connected a blimpish media tour, including pinch Kelly and Tucker Carlson, who were sympathetic to Trump but person surgery pinch nan president complete nan warfare successful Iran arsenic good arsenic different issues.
At his stops pinch Kelly, Carlson and connected nan UnHerd podcast pinch Freddie Sayers, Kent has maintained he could not proceed successful his domiciled “in bully conscience” owed to nan warfare successful Iran that nan president started without legislature authorization alongside Israel successful precocious February.
In a wide publicized resignation letter, he said Iran “posed nary imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this warfare owed to unit from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.
Kent was antecedently an ideological worker for Trump’s “Make America awesome again” (Maga) movement, defending nan 6 January 2021 US Capitol onslaught carried retired by nan president’s supporters, exalting disproven theories that nan 2020 predetermination won by Joe Biden was stolen, and interviewing nan antisemitic far-right influencer Nick Fuentes. He paid a personnel of nan far-right extremist Proud Boys group to activity connected an unsuccessful Kent bid for Congress successful 2022.
Kent has besides been accused of peddling antisemitic tropes successful blaming an “Israeli lobby” for nan Iran conflict.
Kelly connected Friday asked Kent if it’s worthy becoming a Maga force now that he has joined an insurgency of Iran warfare skeptics connected nan fringes of Trump’s movement.
“Most certainly,” Kent said successful consequence to Kelly. “I deliberation I person a mission, and I deliberation it is to do everything I tin to extremity this war.”
The White House dismissed Kent arsenic “weak connected security”, insisting that Iran represented “a tremendous threat” and suggesting that those who disagreed lacked judgment. “If personification didn’t deliberation it was a threat, we don’t want those people,” Trump has said.
During a caller proceeding of nan House imperishable prime committee connected intelligence, Kent’s erstwhile boss, Tulsi Gabbard, said she “cannot opportunity really much” she disagreed pinch Kent’s letter.
“He said a batch of things successful that letter,” Gabbard, nan nationalist intelligence director, said. “Ultimately, we person provided nan president pinch nan intelligence assessments, and nan president is elected by nan American group and makes his ain decisions based connected nan accusation that’s disposable to him.”
In an interview pinch nan right-leaning UnHerd published connected Saturday, Kent continued pinch that assertion, saying that while Trump “is nan feline who makes nan decisions … nan proposal that [he] was getting was mostly dominated by this ecosystem that I picture pinch Israeli officials”.
He blamed outlets that that he claimed echo “the aforesaid talking points”, naming Fox News, nan Wall Street Journal editorial committee and nan New York Post – each of which are portion of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Kent claimed those outlets were “saying fundamentally nan aforesaid things, almost successful coordination pinch what nan Israeli officials were saying, successful peculiar astir nary enrichment, saying that enrichment equals Iran having a atomic weapon, which couldn’t beryllium further from nan truth”.
Kent contended that “by saying that” it “basically short-circuited nan negotiations” complete nan early of Iran’s atomic program.
The erstwhile intelligence charismatic added that he had expected Israel to return aft nan “12-day war” betwixt Israeli forces and Iran successful June of 2025 and US rocket strikes soon aft that destroyed Iranian atomic enrichment sites.
“We knew they would, and erstwhile they did travel back, that is erstwhile I saw, from my perspective, nan robust debates benignant of spell away, and location was a overmuch smaller group of advisers astir President Trump,” Kent said.
And again, he added, “it goes backmost to nan charismatic engagement from nan Israelis past echoed by nan pro-Israel media heads that were successful Trump’s media diet”.
