Former US National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent sat Wednesday for an extensive interview with former Fox News host and right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson, his first public feedback since he resigned from his put up, citing considerations in regards to the war with Iran.
The interview lasted a couple of hour and 40 minutes and coated a variety of matters, together with the continuing conflict, but additionally the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the federal government’s recordsdata on the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
Here are the takeaways:
Kent informed Carlson there was restricted entry to President Donald Trump within the lead as much as the conflict in Iran, saying partly {that a} “good deal of key decision makers were not allowed to come and express their opinion” to the president.
“In the lead up to this last iteration, good deal of key decision makers were not allowed to come and express their opinion to the president,” Kent stated, noting that there was “robust debate” previous US strikes on Iranian nuclear websites final yr.
By distinction, the intelligence neighborhood’s capability to supply a “sanity check” when briefing the president “was largely stifled in this second iteration,” Kent stated.
“They had that discussion, you know, behind closed doors, and there wasn’t a chance for any dissenting voices to come,” he stated afterward within the podcast.
A senior Trump administration official informed NCS on Tuesday that the White House beforehand sidelined Kent from collaborating within the president’s intelligence briefings, together with these associated to Iran.
Just in the future after resigning from his position, Kent additionally informed Carlson there was “no intelligence” that Iran was going to launch a “big sneak attack” akin to the September 11, 2001, assaults or Pearl Harbor.
“There was no intelligence that said, hey, on whatever day it was, March 1st, the Iranians are going to launch this big sneak attack, they’re going to do some kind of a 9/11, Pearl Harbor, etc. They’re going to attack one of our bases. There was none of that intelligence,” Kent stated.
Trump and the the White House have repeatedly cited an imminent threat posed by Iran as an impetus for launching strikes towards the nation.
Kent additional argued that the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who died final month in joint US and Israeli strikes, had been moderating the nation’s nuclear program.
“I’m no fan of the former supreme leader, you know, Ali Khamenei, however, he was moderating their nuclear program. He was preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon,” he stated, warning, “If you take him out, if you kill him aggressively, people are going to rally around that regime.”
Asked by Carlson if Iran was on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon, Kent replied,“No, they weren’t,” earlier than including that Iran’s technique was “to not completely abandon the nuclear program.”
Kent additionally stated he felt that Israel had pulled the US into the battle and was broadly influencing American coverage within the Middle East.
He pointed to feedback from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who argued earlier this month that Iran was an imminent risk as a result of the US believed Israel was about to assault and Iran would hit again. He solid Rubio’s pondering as flawed, as a result of, he stated, there was no purpose to imagine Iran was going to assault with out being provoked.
“So, the imminent threat that the secretary of state is describing is not from Iran. It’s from Israel,” Carlson requested.
“Exactly,” Kent responded. “And I think this speaks to the broader issue: who is in charge of our policy in the Middle East.”
Kent, who has confronted criticism up to now for associations with far-right figures, together with White nationalists and a Nazi sympathizer, targeted extensively on Israel in his resignation letter, with some Republicans accusing him of selling antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“Isolationists and anti-Semites have no place in either party, and certainly do not deserve places of trust in our government,” former Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell stated on social media, condemning what he described as “the virulent anti-Semitism” of Kent’s resignation letter.
Kent stated that his motivation for talking out this week particularly was as a result of he felt that his voice and his feedback had been being “squashed” earlier than they reached the White House.
“It became really clear to me, you know, over the weekend, this past weekend, that our message just wasn’t getting through,” Kent stated.
“I know what happens if I stay, if I if I stay, and I go along with this, I’m going to be, you know, knee deep in it, trying to just chip away and make a difference. But my ability to have, you know, my voice heard, to present data that runs contrary to the trajectory and the agenda that the administration’s on, that’s going to be squashed before it even really reaches the White House,” he added.
Kent stated Wednesday that he spoke immediately with Trump previous to his departure from the administration, calling the president “very respectful” and “very kind” of their dialog.
“I spoke with him before I departed the administration,” Kent informed Carlson, including, “It went great. I mean, not the best conversation ever. You know, I told him why I was leaving. He heard me out.”
Kent welcomed the prospect of talking with Trump once more, noting that he believes he and the president “departed personally on good terms.”
NCS beforehand reported that Kent met with Vice President JD Vance on Monday, laying out why he supposed to step down over considerations and presenting his resignation letter.
Kent additionally addressed a variety of different causes of excessive curiosity throughout the MAGA motion, together with the assassination of Kirk, saying partly that the Justice Department and FBI wouldn’t enable him to research attainable overseas ties to the political activist’s killing. NCS beforehand reported that Kent drew a rebuke final yr from FBI Director Kash Patel and different Justice Department officers after he sought to entry FBI techniques to research Kirk’s dying, in keeping with individuals briefed on the matter.
Pressed by Carlson on whether or not recordsdata associated to the 1963 assassination of Kennedy are being withheld from the general public, Kent stated he didn’t suppose there may be something “earth-shattering” in any of the data, however added, “The system doesn’t want to get us used to things being rapidly declassified.”
This story has been up to date with further particulars.
NCS’s Aleena Fayaz and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.