Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is defending President Donald Trump's authority to take military action against Iran.
"After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion," Gabbard said in a post on social media.
Gabbard released the statement hours after Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned over objections to the Iran war. Kent served under Gabbard within the U.S. intelligence community.
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"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it was clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent said in his resignation letter to Trump.
He also claimed Trump was deceived by Israeli officials into believing Iran was an imminent threat to the United States and that there was a "clear path to a swift victory."
"This was a lie," Kent, who served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, said.
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President Donald Trump has attempted to distance himself from Kent's criticism, saying he was a nice guy but "very weak on security."
"When somebody is working with us that says they didn't think Iran was a threat, we don't want those people, because, and there are some people, I guess, that would say that, but they're not smart people or they're not savvy people," Trump said.
The White House wanted Kent fired for suspected leaks, according to a senior administration official, adding that he was not part of any Iran planning discussions or briefings. However, Scripps News understands Gabbard was not asked to fire him, although she would have done so upon request.
