Former counterterrorism official Joe Kent sparred with conservative radio host and Fox News personality Mark Levin in a heated interview Monday, as Levin pressed him over past comments suggesting potential foreign links to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and also Iran.Â
Levin challenged Kent to clarify whether he was implicating a specific country, potentially Israel, in relation to Kirk’s death, at one point asking, “What are you talking about there â Botswana” as he pushed him to explain his earlier remarks.
Levin was referencing Kents prior public comments, in which he raised the possibility that Kirks killing could have foreign connections tied to his opposition to war with Iran.
Kent replied: “Charlie was advocating for us not to go to war with Iran and to rethink our relationship with the Israelis, and then he was killed. This needs to be looked into. Thats all I can say.”
“There were foreign leads that we didnt get a chance to look into,” he added. “From my vantage point at the National Counterterrorism Center, that was not thoroughly looked into.”Â
In past interviews, Kent has pointed to social media posts made before the attack against Kirk and suggested authorities should examine whether any individuals had prior knowledge or made threats.Â
On Thomas Matthew Crooks and the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Kent said: “We should investigate to see if theres any linkage, particularly between Iran and the Iranian agent who was convicted for plotting an assassination attempt against President Trump.”
Elsewhere in the interview Levin pressed Kent on leaking allegations, breaking with the Trump administration over Iran, and claiming Israel “forced President Trump into this war.” Â
“I never leaked any classified information,” Kent said, as Levin pressed him on reports that he was under investigation by the FBI for leaking.Â
Three sources familiar with the matter have told Fox News the FBI probe into Kent predated his resignation.Â
Kent also disputed the administrations case for the conflict with Iran, saying “there was no imminent threat coming from Iran against Americans.”
March 17 as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), issuing a public letter claiming the U.S. entered the conflict due to “pressure from Israel” â a position he has since defended in multiple media appearances.
Kent maintained that U.S. intelligence did not support the administrations justification for military action in Iran, asserting “we had no intelligence that said that Iran was ,” a claim that runs counter to assessments publicly cited by top administration officials.
Kents resignation makes him the highest-ranking figure in the Trump administration to step down over the Iran war, a rare instance of open dissent from a senior national security official. His assertions put him at odds with top intelligence and defense officials who have said Iran posed an immediate threat to the United States.Â
“Joe Kents self-aggrandizing resignation letter and recent comments are riddled with lies. Most egregious are Kents false claims that the largest state sponsor of terrorism somehow did not pose a threat to the United States and that Israel forced the President into launching Operation Epic Fury,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital. “As Commander-in-Chief, President Trump took decisive action based on strong evidence which showed that the terrorist Iranian regime posed an imminent threat and was preparing to strike Americans first.”
Levin, a staunch advocate of the U.S. alliance with Israel and host of weekend program “Life, Liberty & Levin” on Fox, repeatedly challenged Kents claims throughout the roughly 22-minute interview, turning what began as a policy discussion into a pointed back-and-forth over intelligence, Israel and Trumps decision-making.Â
Levin r
