Joe Kent Says He Was Told ‘You Need to Stop’ Investigating Charlie Kirk Assassination (VIDEO)

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By Washington Examiner. Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said he and his team were blocked from continuing to investigate possible leads tied to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, alleging federal agencies told them to halt their work despite unsolved questions.

Speaking on the Tucker Carlson Show following his resignation from the NCC, Kent said his office initially pursued leads related to possible foreign connections in the case, which fell within its mandate. But he said those efforts were curtailed.

“We were then told that, ‘Hey, you guys need to stop. You can’t work on this anymore,” Kent said.

Kirk, a prominent conservative figure and ally of President Donald Trump, was killed last September in a high-profile assassination that authorities have described as the act of a lone gunman on Utah Valley University’s campus. Kent said investigators were told to defer to state authorities in Utah and that federal agencies limited further inquiry.

“The FBI will say that they stopped that because they wanted to … turn everything over to the Utah State authorities,” Kent said, adding that officials characterized the case as a “slam dunk case.” (Read more from “Joe Kent Says He Was Told ‘You Need to Stop’ Investigating Charlie Kirk Assassination (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent under FBI investigation for sharing classified information: reports

By The Independent. The FBI has opened an investigation into Joe Kent, President Donald Trump’s former counterterrorism chief, who resigned from his post over opposition to the war in Iran, according to multiple news reports.

The bureau’s probe into Kent, who served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, pertains to allegations that he mishandled classified information, four unnamed sources familiar with the matter told Semafor on Wednesday.

The investigation began before he left the administration, sources said, with one characterizing it as having gone on for months.

It’s being handled by the bureau’s Criminal Division, a source told CBS News.

Taylor Budowich, a former deputy White House chief of staff, appeared to allude to the investigation shortly after Kent stepped down. He wrote on X that the ex-counterterrorism chief was “often at the center of national security leaks.” (Read more from “Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent under FBI investigation for sharing classified information: reports” HERE)

Hegseth Confirms He wants $200B to Restock America’s Bombs, Missiles Post-Iran War: ‘It takes money to kill bad guys’

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appeared to confirm Thursday that the Trump administration is contemplating asking Congress to approve $200 billion in supplemental defense funding amid the war in Iran.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had asked the White House to make the $200 billion request to lawmakers in order to replenish America’s munitions stockpile, though it was not clear when or whether the Trump administration would decide to do so.

“As far as the $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously,” Hegseth told reporters. “It takes money to kill bad guys. So we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s being done.”

The amount requested is believed to be far beyond what the US has actually expended so far in its sweeping bombing campaign to cripple the Iranian regime, indicating a wider goal of beefing up America’s defense industrial base amid fears that the ability to rapidly produce weapons domestically has degraded over time.

“An investment like this is meant to say, ‘Hey, we’ll replace anything that was spent.’ And now … we’re reviving our defense industrial base and rebuilding the arsenal of freedom,” Hegseth added. (Read more from “Hegseth confirms he wants $200B to restock America’s bombs, missiles post-Iran war: ‘It takes money to kill bad guys’” HERE)

US War Stocks Getting Destroyed by War, Iran has Shot Down a Staggering 10% of US Reaper Drones

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More than a dozen unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost in combat as part of operations against Iran, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News.

The Reaper drones were lost either to Iranian missiles or were destroyed on the ground by incoming fire. . .

The loss of this number of Reapers is indicative of how many of these key unmanned aircraft must be operating as part of the U.S. operations against Iran.

The Air Force announced its final five-year purchasing contract for Reapers in 2020, and manufacturer General Atomics closed the production line last year after building 575 of them. The final lot cost about $16 million each when purchased in a batch of four, according to C. Mark Brinkley, a General Atomics spokesman. (Read more from “US War Stocks Getting Destroyed by War, Iran has Shot Down a Staggering 10% of US Reaper Drones” HERE)

Tulsi Gabbard Won’t Support Trump Claim, Tells Senator “That’s Right”

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During her Senate testimony on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was asked by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to confirm details from her opening statement, in which Gabbard made clear that it was the assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S., that Iran’s nuclear capability had been obliterated by U.S. attacks last June, and that Iran had made no effort since to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capability in the interim.

Gabbard’s explicit claim that Iran did not try to rebuild its nuclear capability — key to Ossoff’s questioning — were in direct contrast to President Trump’s February 28 remarks, when Trump used the word nuclear 11 times and said specifically that after June’s Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.”

In the video clip above, Ossoff addressed Gabbard saying: “You noted in your opening statement that you’re here fulfilling a statutory obligation and that your testimony, quote, represents the IC’s assessment of threats.”

“That’s right,” Gabbard responded.

Ossoff then read from Gabbard’s opening statement, in which she explicitly asserted that — contrary to what President Trump personally determined before launching the attacks — the Intelligence Community (IC) did not consider Iran an imminent threat to the United States at this time, a position that aligned with the reasoning for the resignation this week of counterterrorism head Joe Kent, who worked under Gabbard. (Read more from “Tulsi Gabbard Won’t Support Trump Claim, Tells Senator “That’s Right” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Drones Hovering above Rubio and Hegseth’s Homes Leave Military Officials Baffled

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A series of “unidentified” drones have been spotted hovering over the Washington D.C. military base where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live, prompting the U.S. government to consider relocating them.

The military is closely monitoring potential threats to senior government figures amid the Trump administration’s war on Iran, but according to a Washington Post report, the origin of the drones that have breached the airspace above Fort Lesley J. McNair remains a mystery.

The newspaper spoke to three people briefed on the matter, who, on condition of anonymity, said multiple sightings occurred on a single night within the past 10 days, prompting an immediate security review and a White House meeting on how to respond.

The incidents come at a moment of heightened alert as the U.S. and Israel continue striking Iran and the drone activity over McNair coincides with a broader tightening of security across the U.S. military.

Several domestic bases have raised their force‑protection levels to “Charlie,” a designation used when commanders have intelligence indicating a possible attack. Joint Base McGuire‑Dix‑Lakehurst in New Jersey and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida – home to U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations against Iran – were both escalated to Charlie this week. (Read more from “Drones Hovering above Rubio and Hegseth’s Homes Leave Military Officials Baffled” HERE)

Turns out Mar-a-Lago Wasn’t Overvalued, Tish

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Forbes just estimated the value of Mar-a-Lago at about $560 million, again exposing the fakery in New York state Attorney General Tish James’ 2023 civil fraud persecution of President Trump.

James argued that Trump had wildly inflated the value of the resort and other properties to get better loan terms from Deutsche Bank.

Democratic hack Judge Arthur Engoron agreed, calling Trump’s half-billion-dollar estimate for the Palm Beach palace “an overvaluation of at least 2,300%, compared to the assessor’s appraisal.”

Bogus assumption No. 1 was that tax assessments reflect real market value; No. 2, that a sophisticated global powerhouse like Deutsche Bank would ever take a borrower’s word for what his assets are worth.

As National Review’s Andrew McCarthy notes, Forbes’ new list of billionaires bumped Trump into the ranks of the 1,000 richest people in the world, partly based on valuing the president’s Xanadu in the ballpark of Trump’s “original fraudulent” estimate. (Read more from “Turns out Mar-a-Lago Wasn’t Overvalued, Tish” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Megyn Kelly Fumes at Trump’s Revenge Plot

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Megyn Kelly has warned that President Donald Trump’s apparent revenge campaign against internal critics could devastate Republican turnout in the midterms.

The right-wing podcaster lit up social media after news broke that Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, is under federal investigation for allegedly leaking classified information. Kent, 45, had just resigned in protest at Trump’s war on Iran—the first senior Trump administration official to do so. According to Semafor, the investigation predates his exit.

Before the probe became public, Kent, a former Green Beret, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show to reject Trump’s claim that Iran had posed an imminent threat, the central justification for the war that has cost the lives of 13 U.S. service members and an estimated 1,5000 Iranians.

Kelly’s response to the probe into Kent was unambiguous. “You wanna rip the GOP apart right to its core and prevent a single America First voter from participating in the midterms?” she posted on X Wednesday. “Indict Joe Kent and Tucker Carlson. See how that works out.”

She argues that pursuing Kent and Carlson—two figures with deep credibility among the anti-interventionist wing of the MAGA coalition—would look to America First voters like Trump using the justice system to silence dissent over a war he was never supposed to start. The result, she warned, would be a suppressed Republican turnout in the midterms. (Read more from “Megyn Kelly Fumes at Trump’s Revenge Plot” HERE)

Panicking Trump Aides Left Scrambling by Counterterror Chief’s Shock Resignation Bombshell

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The White House had no idea Donald Trump’s top counterterrorism official planned to post his damning resignation letter protesting the Iran war on social media, according to a report. . .

But he blindsided the White House by posting his bombshell resignation letter on X, where it has been shared more than 250,000 times, causing the president major embarrassment, a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell said the letter contained “virulent anti-Semitism,” while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham accused Kent of repeating the “oldest storyline in the world” that “if it weren’t for the Jews, we’d all be safe.”

It was previously reported that Vance, who had been skeptical of launching a war with Iran, knew Kent planned to resign and urged him to inform Trump and Wiles first.

A spokesman for the vice president told the Journal that Vance “believes that it’s imperative for the national security team to remain cohesive, trust one another, and avoid mouthing off to the media about internal deliberations.” (Read more from “Panicking Trump Aides Left Scrambling by Counterterror Chief’s Shock Resignation Bombshell” HERE)

US Drops 5K-pound Bunker-Buster Bombs on Underground Missile Sites near Strait of Hormuz

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The US military dropped 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on underground Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, according to authorities.

The massive attack announced by US Central Command came as the war with Iran had stanched the flow of shipping through the vital Persian Gulf waterway.

“Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” the regional command said on X around 7 p.m. ET.

“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait,” CENTCOM added.

A US official told CNN that the munitions were the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator, an explosive first released by US aircraft in 2021. (Read more from “US Drops 5K-pound Bunker-Buster Bombs on Underground Missile Sites near Strait of Hormuz” HERE)

European Country Deploys Troops To Protect Jews Week After Synagogue Blast

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Belgium deployed military personnel Monday to protect Jewish sites across the country, following a pre-dawn explosion at a synagogue in Liège, Belgium last week.

Officials announced that the Ministry of Defence, coordinating with the federal police, will oversee security at synagogues, Jewish schools, and other locations linked to the Jewish community, as reported by the Belga News Agency. The ministers cited Article 111 of the Integrated Police Act, which allows the commissioner general of the federal police to request military support for police operations.

Interior Minister Bernard Quintin and Defence Minister Theo Francken said the deployment would happen immediately with police leading operational management in close cooperation with the military.

“To protect our Jewish community, we are deploying military personnel to support security on our streets. The safety of every citizen must be guaranteed,” Francken wrote. “Antisemitism and hatred against Jews will never be tolerated. We will stand firm against it, always.”

The blast in Liège occurred around 4 a.m. on March 9, shattering windows on nearby buildings but causing no injuries, police reported. Prime Minister Bart De Wever called the act “an attack on our values and our society” and pledged to fight antisemitism across Belgium, according to Le Monde.

(Read more from “European Country Deploys Troops To Protect Jews Week After Synagogue Blast” HERE)