Tulsi Gabbard pressed on Iran threat as intelligence officials clash and FBI probes Joe Kent

A tense hearing on Capitol Hill is raising new questions about the justification for U.S. military action against Iran.

(NBC)- A tense hearing on Capitol Hill is raising new questions about the justification for U.S. military action against Iran, as top intelligence officials face scrutiny over whether the country posed an imminent threat.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard drew sharp criticism from lawmakers after declining to directly answer whether Iran’s nuclear program presented an immediate danger to the United States.

“It is not the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat,” Gabbard said. “That is up to the President based on a volume of information that he receives.”

That response prompted pushback from Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia.

“Here’s the problem… it is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States,” Ossoff said during the exchange.

Lawmakers also questioned how recent intelligence assessments align with current claims of urgency. Gabbard previously stated that U.S. and Israeli strikes last summer had effectively dismantled Iran’s nuclear program, with no rebuilding efforts detected.

At the hearing, she clarified that Iran still “maintained the intention to rebuild,” leaving open questions about the immediacy of any threat.

The debate comes amid internal divisions within the intelligence community.

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who recently resigned, has publicly disputed the administration’s claims, saying Iran was not close to developing a nuclear weapon at the time hostilities began.

“No, they weren’t three weeks ago when this started,” Kent said in a recent interview.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe pushed back, maintaining that Iran has long posed a threat and that the risk was immediate.

“I think Iran has been a constant threat to the United States for an extended period of time, and posed an immediate threat at this time,” Ratcliffe said.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter tells NBC News that Kent is now under FBI investigation for allegedly leaking classified information. The source says the investigation began before Kent publicly announced his resignation.

Kent has suggested he expected retaliation.

“And try and discredit me,” he said.

The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation.