Top Gabbard aide resigns over Iran war |
Top Gabbard aide resigns over Iran war
A top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has resigned in protest of the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, posted on social media platform X that he was resigning effective Tuesday. He appears to be the first major Trump administration official to resign over the war.
“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.
Kent shared a letter addressed to President Trump stating that while he supports “the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020” and 2024, he disagreed with the president’s decision to launch the Iran operation.
“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,” he wrote.
The Hill has reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the National Counterterrorism Center for further comment.
Kent, a former Green Beret and two-time GOP congressional hopeful, was confirmed as the president’s top counterterrorism adviser by the Senate last summer in a 52-44 vote. He previously worked as chief of staff to Gabbard.
He served in the Army for two decades and completed nearly a dozen combat deployments, receiving six bronze stars. He later worked as a paramilitary officer for the CIA.
The ODNI recently hired Dan Caldwell, a former aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was accused of leaking classified information and was ousted from the Pentagon in April, along with two other aides, an administration official told The Hill.
– Filip Timotija contributed.
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