White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt on Wednesday sought to contain the fallout from Joe Kent’s resignation over the Iran war. She said the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) was not involved in any discussions related to U.S. actions in Iran and stressed that President Donald Trump maintains “full trust” in the director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Levitt distances Kent from Iran war decisions
Levitt told Fox News that Kent, the first senior Trump administration official to resign over the Iran conflict, “has not been involved in any discussions about Iran’s actions.”The comments appeared aimed at undermining the significance of Kent’s public break with the government, especially as his resignation raised questions about the intelligence foundation of the war and whether dissent existed within the national security apparatus.Levitt used the interview to solidly support Tulsi Gabbard, saying Trump has “full confidence” in the director of national intelligence despite the political firestorm caused by Kent’s exit.
White House rejects Kent’s claim that there is “no imminent threat”
Kent resigned on Tuesday, saying he could not “in good conscience” support Iran’s ongoing war.In his resignation statement, Kent argued that “Iran poses no imminent threat to our country” and claimed the war was started due to “pressure from Israel and its powerful U.S. lobby,” a charge the White House has repeatedly and strongly denied.Levitt responded to Kent’s letter on Tuesday, calling parts of it misleading.“There are a lot of false claims in this letter, but let me talk about one specifically: ‘Iran does not pose an imminent threat to our country,'” Levitt said, according to Fox News.“This is the same false claim repeated over and over again by Democrats and some liberal media outlets,” she added.Levitt further said Trump has “strong and compelling evidence” that Iran is preparing to attack the United States first.
‘Trump will never operate in a vacuum’
Levitt said the intelligence behind the president’s decision came from multiple sources.“The evidence was gathered from many sources and factors,” she said, according to Fox News. “President Trump would never make a decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum,” she added.She also defended the broader rationale for the attack, calling Iran “the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism” and saying the regime “proudly kills Americans” and openly threatens the United States before launching military action.According to Fox News, Levitt said that Iran has been actively expanding its short-range ballistic missile capabilities and intends to use these missiles as a shield while pursuing its “ultimate goal” of acquiring nuclear weapons.“The regime’s intent is to use these ballistic missiles as a shield to continue to pursue its ultimate goal of nuclear weapons,” she said.She added that Trump had concluded that a joint strike with Israel would “significantly reduce the imminent threat to U.S. national security interests” and thereby “significantly reduce the risk to American lives.”
Trump has already lashed out at Kent
Levitt’s latest comments come a day after Trump himself publicly attacked Kent following his resignation.Shortly after Kent resigned, Trump said he had always considered Kent “weak on security” and called his departure “a good thing.”“I’ve always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security,” Trump said.He also said that after reading Kent’s statement, “I realized it was a good thing he was out.” Trump argued that if there were people in his administration who believed Iran was not a threat, “we wouldn’t need those people.”
Kent’s exit puts pressure on intelligence chiefs
Kent’s resignation intensifies scrutiny of the administration just as top intelligence officials prepare to face Congress.Kent’s criticism is expected to be highlighted when lawmakers ask intelligence leaders about U.S.-Israeli assessments ahead of the war with Iran.Wednesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing included testimony from Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Kash Patel and senior officials from the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.Kent’s resignation letter, particularly his assertion that Iran does not pose “an imminent threat to the United States,” will likely become a focal point for Democrats to pressure the administration to ask whether intelligence warrants military action.According to the New York Times, Rep. Jim Himes, the Democratic leader on the House Intelligence Committee, said, “I have seen absolutely no evidence that Iran is about to launch an attack.”