The FBI is investigating a former US counterterrorism chief who resigned over the Iran war for allegedly leaking classified information, according to reports

WASHINGTON: The FBI has opened an investigation into a former senior US counterterrorism official who resigned in protest of the war with Iran.

Joseph Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, is under investigation for allegedly leaking classified information, according to US media reports.

Kent served as director of the NCTC until his resignation on Tuesday. In his resignation letter to President Donald Trump, he wrote that he could not “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,” said Kent, a 45-year-old former special forces member.

Reports by outlets including the New York Times and CBS, citing unnamed sources, indicate the FBI investigation into Kent predated his departure. A source told news website Semafor that the investigation was “months-long.”

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kent was once a Trump ally and was appointed by the Republican president to head the NCTC.

In that role, he worked under then-National Security Advisor Tulsi Gabbard to analyze and coordinate the US response to terrorist threats. He also served as the principal counterterrorism adviser to the president.

On Tuesday, Trump accused Kent of being “very weak on security” and said it’s a “good thing that he’s out.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against what she called “false claims” in Kent’s resignation letter.

She called “insulting and laughable” the suggestion that the decision to go to war was made “based on the influence of others.”

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt said.

 The Sun Malaysia