Leavitt pans Joe Kent over White House resignation

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt panned former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent on Wednesday, telling Fox News that his resignation letter was rife with inaccuracies and saying it had been “a while” since he played an active role in President Donald Trump’s intelligence briefings.

“I think the president views it as deeply unfortunate that this individual, who the president gave the privilege of working for the administration, put out this resignation on government letterhead with many falsehoods throughout,” Leavitt said without describing the “falsehoods.” “Essentially accusing the president of being manipulated by foreign governments.”

Kent stunned the White House when he announced on social media that he was leaving the NCTC due to his opposition to “the ongoing war in Iran.” Tehran posed “no imminent threat,” and Trump, he said, had been duped by an Israeli “misinformation campaign.”

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory,” Kent wrote in the letter.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that “I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out” after reading the letter. It was “laughable and it’s insulting,” Leavitt said on Wednesday.

And Kent, she said, was on the outside looking in within the administration.

“It’s been a while since the president has seen him here at the White House,” she said. “It’s been a while since he’s been involved in the process of the presidential daily briefs, and he’s been actually present for the president’s intelligence briefings. This was an individual who was not involved in any of the discussions pre-operation and throughout this operation.”

Trump tapped Kent for the top NCTC post last February and the Senate confirmed him in July. Kent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The president’s operation against Tehran should hardly have been a surprise, Leavitt told Fox.

“Long before he ever entered politics, he has always said Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon,” she said of Trump. “So anyone who works here should be well aware of the president’s intentions and his peace through strength agenda and his willingness to use the United States military to achieve peace if and when necessary, as we have seen throughout Operation Epic Fury.”