The man who ran America's National Counterterrorism Center says he was blocked from investigating Charlie Kirk's assassination, and now he's willing to testify at trial, knowing it could blow up the prosecution's case.
Joe Kent, the recently resigned director of the National Counterterrorism Center, says he will testify in the trial of Tyler Robinson, the man charged with assassinating Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, and that he is skeptical Robinson acted alone.
Kent resigned from his position citing opposition to the Trump administration's war with Iran, writing in his resignation letter that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States and accusing the administration of being influenced by Israel to launch the military campaign.
In an appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Kent revealed that his office initially pursued leads related to possible foreign connections in the case, which fell within its mandate , but those efforts were curtailed. "We were then told that, 'Hey, you guys need to stop,'" Kent said. "There was more work for us to do on the potential of a foreign nexus, and we were blocked from doing that."
The FBI wanted to turn the investigation over to Utah State authorities and characterized the case as a "slam dunk." Authorities have maintained that Robinson acted alone.
Kent says the last time he saw Kirk was in June 2025. "He said, 'Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran,' very loudly. And he walked off, and he went, I believe, into the Oval." "So when one of President Trump's closest advisors, who is vocally advocating for us to not go to war with Iran and for us to rethink, at least, our relationship with the Israelis, and then he's suddenly publicly assassinated, and we're not allowed to ask any questions about that, it's a data point. It's a data point that we need to look into."
The stated reason for halting the NCTC's investigation was to prevent interference with local law enforcement efforts and Robinson's trial. Senior FBI officials, including Director Kash Patel, believed Kent was overstepping and potentially interfering with the prosecution. Some administration officials were also concerned that Kent's efforts could give defense lawyers ammunition to raise reasonable doubt by suggesting more than one person was involved.
Robinson's trial is scheduled for May 18. Kirk's wife Erika filed a speedy trial motion in January. Kent is now prepared to testify, knowing full well the risk his skepticism poses to the prosecution's case.
Kent has been careful to note he is not making definitive claims. "I'm not alluding and saying, 'I know what the truth is.' I'm not trying to be cryptic," he told Megyn Kelly. "All I can say is that there were additional leads that we needed to run down and fully investigate, and that just simply was not done."
The story has a new wrinkle this week. Kirk's closest advisor Andrew Kolvet says he shared private group-chat screenshots with Kent because he believed Kent could be trusted and wanted every lead pursued, but those messages later ended up on the Candace Owens show. "I was told I could trust Joe Kent," Kolvet said. "I provided the screen grabs to Joe Kent, and I don't know what happened to them at that point."
The White House has moved to discredit Kent. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called his resignation letter "rife with inaccuracies" and "insulting" to the president.
Joe Kent, the recently resigned director of the National Counterterrorism Center, says he will testify in the trial of Tyler Robinson, the man charged with assassinating Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, and that he is skeptical Robinson acted alone.
Kent resigned from his position citing opposition to the Trump administration's war with Iran, writing in his resignation letter that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States and accusing the administration of being influenced by Israel to launch the military campaign.
In an appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Kent revealed that his office initially pursued leads related to possible foreign connections in the case, which fell within its mandate , but those efforts were curtailed. "We were then told that, 'Hey, you guys need to stop,'" Kent said. "There was more work for us to do on the potential of a foreign nexus, and we were blocked from doing that."
The FBI wanted to turn the investigation over to Utah State authorities and characterized the case as a "slam dunk." Authorities have maintained that Robinson acted alone.
Kent says the last time he saw Kirk was in June 2025. "He said, 'Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran,' very loudly. And he walked off, and he went, I believe, into the Oval." "So when one of President Trump's closest advisors, who is vocally advocating for us to not go to war with Iran and for us to rethink, at least, our relationship with the Israelis, and then he's suddenly publicly assassinated, and we're not allowed to ask any questions about that, it's a data point. It's a data point that we need to look into."
The stated reason for halting the NCTC's investigation was to prevent interference with local law enforcement efforts and Robinson's trial. Senior FBI officials, including Director Kash Patel, believed Kent was overstepping and potentially interfering with the prosecution. Some administration officials were also concerned that Kent's efforts could give defense lawyers ammunition to raise reasonable doubt by suggesting more than one person was involved.
Robinson's trial is scheduled for May 18. Kirk's wife Erika filed a speedy trial motion in January. Kent is now prepared to testify, knowing full well the risk his skepticism poses to the prosecution's case.
Kent has been careful to note he is not making definitive claims. "I'm not alluding and saying, 'I know what the truth is.' I'm not trying to be cryptic," he told Megyn Kelly. "All I can say is that there were additional leads that we needed to run down and fully investigate, and that just simply was not done."
The story has a new wrinkle this week. Kirk's closest advisor Andrew Kolvet says he shared private group-chat screenshots with Kent because he believed Kent could be trusted and wanted every lead pursued, but those messages later ended up on the Candace Owens show. "I was told I could trust Joe Kent," Kolvet said. "I provided the screen grabs to Joe Kent, and I don't know what happened to them at that point."
The White House has moved to discredit Kent. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called his resignation letter "rife with inaccuracies" and "insulting" to the president.
81โค๏ธ7๐1๐1๐ค1
