周一，前反恐官员乔·肯特（Joe Kent）在一次激烈的采访中与保守派电台主持人、福克斯新闻名人马克·莱文（Mark Levin）发生争执。莱文就肯特过去的言论追问，这些言论暗示保守派活动家查理·柯克（Charlie Kirk）和伊朗可能存在外国关联。
莱文要求肯特澄清，他是否在暗示某个特定国家（可能是以色列）与柯克的死亡有关。他一度问道：“你在说什么——博茨瓦纳？”，并不断追问他之前的言论。
莱文指的是肯特此前的公开评论，在这些评论中，肯特提出柯克的被杀可能与他反对对伊朗开战有关联。
肯特回应道：“查理一直主张我们不要与伊朗开战，并重新审视与以色列的关系，然后他就被杀害了。这一点需要调查。我只能说这么多。”
他补充道：“有一些外国线索我们没有机会深入调查。从国家反恐中心的角度来看，这些线索并没有得到彻底调查。”
在过去的采访中，肯特曾指出柯克遇袭前的社交媒体帖子，并暗示当局应调查是否有人事先知情或发出威胁。
谈到托马斯·马修·克鲁克斯（Thomas Matthew Crooks）以及在宾夕法尼亚州巴特勒对特朗普的暗杀未遂事件时，肯特说：“我们应该调查是否存在关联，特别是伊朗与一名被定罪试图暗杀特朗普总统的伊朗特工之间的关联。”
采访中，莱文还追问肯特关于泄密指控、与特朗普政府在伊朗问题上的分歧，以及声称以色列“迫使特朗普总统发动这场战争”。
肯特表示：“我从未泄露任何机密信息。”而莱文则追问他被联邦调查局调查泄密的报道。
三位知情人士告诉福克斯新闻，联邦调查局对肯特的调查在他辞职前就已开始。
肯特还质疑政府对伊朗冲突的理由，称“没有来自伊朗针对美国人的迫在眉睫的威胁”。
肯特于3月17日辞去国家反恐中心（NCTC）主任职务，并发表公开信称美国卷入冲突是“以色列施压的结果”。此后，他在多次媒体露面中坚持这一立场。
肯特坚持认为，美国情报机构并不支持政府对伊朗采取军事行动的理由，他断言“我们没有情报显示伊朗正在研发核武器”。这一说法与政府高级官员公开引用的评估相矛盾。
肯特的辞职使他成为特朗普政府中因伊朗战争问题辞职的最高级别官员，这是国家安全高级官员罕见的公开反对。他的言论与最高情报和国防官员的立场相悖，这些官员表示伊朗对美国构成直接威胁。
白宫发言人戴维斯·英格尔（Davis Ingle）对福克斯新闻数字版表示：“乔·肯特自吹自擂的辞职信和近期言论充满谎言。最恶劣的是，肯特谎称最大的支持恐怖主义国家（指伊朗）并未对美国构成威胁，以及以色列迫使总统发动‘史诗 Fury行动’（Operation Epic Fury）。作为总司令，特朗普总统基于有力证据采取了果断行动，证据表明伊朗恐怖政权构成迫在眉睫的威胁，并准备首先打击美国人。”
莱文是美国与以色列联盟的坚定拥护者，也是福克斯周末节目《生命、自由与莱文》的主持人。在大约22分钟的采访中，他反复质疑肯特的说法，将原本的政策讨论变成了关于情报、以色列和特朗普决策的尖锐交锋。
莱文驳斥了肯特所谓以色列将美国拖入战争的说法，称其为“阴谋论”，并驳斥了外国政府可以决定美国军事行动的观点。
“你为什么要编造以色列把强大的唐纳德·特朗普拖入战争的阴谋论？”莱文在其广播节目《马克·莱文秀》中问道，“你难道不尊重唐纳德·特朗普的决策能力吗？他有能力自己做出这些决定。”
肯特回应道：“我认为他受到了媒体回音室和以色列的影响。”
肯特还争辩称“以色列迫使特朗普总统发动这场战争”，莱文在交锋中多次驳斥这一说法。
肯特在其他地方将这一决定描述为受以色列压力影响。
肯特坚持认为“没有情报显示伊朗正在研发核武器”。
作为国家反恐中心主任，肯特本应接触到高级别情报评估，包括威胁报告和用于向高级政策制定者通报的跨部门分析。
政府官员告诉福克斯新闻，他未被纳入被称为“史诗 Fury行动”的伊朗冲突相关讨论。
莱文反驳道：“总统同意自己的结论。中央情报局局长说你错了。”
周三在参议院听证会上，当被问及是否不同意肯特关于伊朗不存在迫在眉睫威胁的辞职评估时，中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫（John Ratcliffe）表示“不同意”。
拉特克利夫说：“我认为伊朗长期以来一直是美国的持续威胁，目前也构成了直接威胁。”
莱文还质疑肯特的可信度，对他说：“我希望你告诉我你没有泄密时，你说的是实话。”
肯特还指出，调查潜在外国与查理·柯克被杀以及对特朗普的暗杀未遂事件之间的关联的工作尚未完全完成。
肯特提到了阿西夫·默罕默德（Asif Merchant）的案件，他是一名巴基斯坦籍男子，今年3月在美国联邦法院被定罪，罪名是试图策划与伊朗革命卫队有关的政治暗杀阴谋。
特朗普在两次不成功的国会竞选活动中都支持肯特，肯特在很大程度上因2019年妻子香农（Shannon）在叙利亚自杀式爆炸中身亡后反对“无休止的战争”而成为“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）运动的明星。
截至发稿，未能联系到肯特置评。
国家情报总监图尔西·加巴德（Tulsi Gabbard）尚未就肯特的指控公开表态，在最近的公开露面中，她基本支持总统对伊朗威胁的评估。约瑟夫·魏尔斯基（Joseph Weirsky）担任国家反恐中心代理主任。
当被问及情报界是否认为伊朗存在“迫在眉睫的核威胁”时，加巴德在3月17日的听证会上告诉参议员：“情报界评估伊朗有重建和继续增强其核浓缩能力的意图。”
当被再次追问是否存在迫在眉睫的核威胁时，加巴德反复坚持只有总统才能决定“什么是、什么不是迫在眉睫的威胁”。
以色列大使馆未能立即置评。
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.
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 — Botswana?” as he pushed him to explain his earlier remarks.
Levin was referencing Kent’s prior public comments, in which he raised the possibility that Kirk’s 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. That’s all I can say.”
“There were foreign leads that we didn’t get a chance to look into,” he added. “From my vantage point at the National Counterterrorism Center, that was not thoroughly looked into.”
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.
On Thomas Matthew Crooks and the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Kent said: “We should investigate to see if there’s 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.”
“I never leaked any classified information,” Kent said, as Levin pressed him on reports that he was under investigation by the FBI for leaking.
Three sources familiar with the matter have told Fox News the FBI probe into Kent predated his resignation.
Kent also disputed the administration’s case for the conflict with Iran, saying “there was no imminent threat coming from Iran against Americans.”
Kent resigned 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” — a position he has since defended in multiple media appearances.
Kent maintained that U.S. intelligence did not support the administration’s justification for military action in Iran, asserting “we had no intelligence that said that Iran was working to develop a nuclear weapon,” a claim that runs counter to assessments publicly cited by top administration officials.
Kent’s 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.
“Joe Kent’s self-aggrandizing resignation letter and recent comments are riddled with lies. Most egregious are Kent’s 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 Kent’s claims throughout the roughly 22-minute interview, turning what began as a policy discussion into a pointed back-and-forth over intelligence, Israel and Trump’s decision-making.
Levin rejected Kent’s assertion that Israel drove the U.S. into war, calling it “conspiratorial” and pushing back on the idea that a foreign government could dictate American military action.
“Why do you create a conspiratorial notion that Israel dragged the powerful Donald Trump into war?” Levin asked on his radio show, “The Mark Levin Show.” “Do you have no respect for Donald Trump’s agency that he has the capacity to make these decisions himself?”
Kent responded, “I believe that he was influenced by a media echo chamber and by the Israelis.”
Kent also argued that “the Israelis forced President Trump into this war,” a claim Levin repeatedly pushed back on during the exchange.
Kent elsewhere described the decision as influenced by Israeli pressure.
Kent maintained that “there was no intelligence that said that Iran was working to develop a nuclear weapon.”
As director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent would have had access to high-level intelligence assessments, including threat reporting and interagency analysis used to brief senior policymakers.
Administration officials have told Fox News he was not included in discussions surrounding the Iran conflict known as Operation Epic Fury.
Levin countered, saying, “The president agrees with his own conclusions. The CIA director says you’re wrong.”
Asked Wednesday during a Senate hearing if he disagreed with Kent’s resignation assessment that Iran did not pose an imminent threat, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said he did.
“I think Iran has been a constant threat to the United States for an extended period of time and posed an immediate threat at this time,” Ratcliffe said.
Levin also questioned Kent’s credibility Monday, telling him, “I hope when you tell me you haven’t leaked that you are telling me the truth.”
Kent also indicated that efforts to investigate potential foreign links to the killing of Charlie Kirk and the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, were not fully carried out.
Kent pointed to the case of Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national convicted in U.S. federal court in March for attempting to orchestrate a political assassination plot tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Endorsed by Trump in two unsuccessful congressional campaigns, Kent rose to MAGA stardom in large part in his opposition to “endless wars” after the death of his wife, Shannon, in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.
Kent could not be reached for comment.
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of National Intelligence, has not publicly weighed in on Kent’s claims and largely has deferred to the president’s assessment of the Iran threat in recent public appearances. Joseph Weirsky is serving as acting director of NCTC.
Asked if the intelligence community assessed Iran posed an “imminent nuclear threat,” Gabbard told senators during a hearing March 17: “The intelligence community assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment capability.”
Pressed again on the imminent nuclear threat assessment, Gabbard repeatedly insisted only the president can determine “what is and is not an imminent threat.”
The Israeli embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.