White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday sought to contain the fallout from Joe Kent’s resignation over the Iran war.
She said the former National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) chief was not involved in any discussions related to the US operation in Iran and stressing that President Donald Trump retains “full confidence” in Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Leavitt distances Kent from Iran war decision-making
Leavitt told Fox News that Kent, the first senior Trump administration official to resign over the Iran conflict, “was not involved in any discussions on the Iran operation. ”
The comment appeared aimed at undercutting the significance of Kent’s public break with the administration, especially as his resignation has fuelled questions over the intelligence basis for the war and whether there was internal dissent within the national security establishment.
Leavitt used the interview to firmly back Tulsi Gabbard, saying Trump has “full confidence” in the Director of National Intelligence despite the political storm triggered by Kent’s exit.
White House pushes back on Kent’s ‘no imminent threat’ claim
Kent resigned on Tuesday, saying he could not “in good conscience” support the ongoing war in Iran.
In his resignation statement, Kent argued that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation” and claimed the war had been launched due to “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”, a charge the White House has repeatedly and forcefully rejected.
Leavitt had already responded to Kent’s letter on Tuesday, calling parts of it misleading.
“There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that ‘Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,’” Leavitt said, according to Fox News.
“This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over,” she added.
Leavitt further said that Trump had “strong and compelling evidence” that Iran was preparing to attack the United States first.
‘Trump would never act in a vacuum’
Leavitt said the intelligence behind the president’s decision came from multiple sources.
“This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors,” she said, according to Fox News, adding that “President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.”
She also defended the broader rationale for the strikes, describing Iran as the “world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism” and saying the regime had “proudly killed Americans” and openly threatened the US up to the launch of the military operation.
According to Fox News, Leavitt said Iran had been aggressively expanding its short-range ballistic missile capabilities and intended to use those missiles as a shield while pursuing its “ultimate goal” of acquiring nuclear weapons.
“The regime aimed to use those ballistic missiles as a shield to continue achieving their ultimate goal – nuclear weapons,” she said.
She added that Trump concluded a joint strike with Israel would “greatly reduce the risk to American lives” posed by what she described as an imminent threat to US national security interests.
Trump had already hit out at Kent
Leavitt’s latest comments come a day after Trump himself publicly attacked Kent following the resignation.
Shortly after Kent’s resignation, Trump said he had always viewed Kent as “weak on security” and described his departure as “a good thing.”
“I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security,” Trump said.
He also said that after reading Kent’s statement, “I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out”.
Trump argued that if someone in his administration believed Iran was not a threat, “we don’t want those people”.
Kent’s exit puts pressure on intelligence chiefs
Kent’s resignation has sharpened scrutiny of the administration just as top intelligence officials prepare to face Congress.
Kent’s criticism is expected to feature prominently as lawmakers question intelligence leaders about the assessments that preceded the US-Israel war against Iran.
The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday was set to include testimony from Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel, and senior officials from the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency.
Kent’s resignation letter, especially his claim that Iran did not “pose an imminent threat to the United States”, is likely to become a focal point for Democrats pressing the administration on whether the intelligence justified military action.
Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said, “I’ve seen absolutely no evidence that there was an imminent threat of attack by Iran,” according to New York Times.
