NSA says Tucker Carlson has 'never been an intelligence target'

The National Security Agency called Tucker Carlson's claim that it is spying on him "untrue," but the Fox News host is sticking to his story, doubling down on the allegations during his Tuesday night show.
On Monday, Carlson maintained that a whistleblower contacted him and said the NSA is "monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air." The whistleblower, he alleged, "repeated back to us information about a story we are working on that could have only come directly from my texts and emails. There's no other possible source for that information. Period." This is "definitely" happening, Carlson added, claiming that he's been targeted for "political reasons."
In response, the NSA tweeted on Tuesday night that this was "untrue" and Carlson "has never been an intelligence target of the agency and the NSA has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air." The NSA clarified that it has a "foreign intelligence mission. We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States. With limited exceptions (e.g. an emergency), NSA may not target a U.S. citizen without a court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The NSA statement came out right when Tucker Carlson Tonight came on the air, and Carlson described it as being "infuriatingly dishonest." He said he'd called the NSA director, Gen. Paul Nakasone, on Tuesday, and appeared flummoxed that Nakasone's "receptionist refused to put us through." That's when Carlson went full Karen. "We're American citizens, though, so we kept trying because it's our right," he declared. "This afternoon we got his direct line and we tried again. Nakasone's assistant seemed shocked that someone whose email the NSA is reading would dare to call the director himself."
Carlson said he finally did have a conversation with someone at the NSA about 20 minutes before going on air, called it "very heated," and groused that the spy agency "refused" to say whether it read his emails.
Carlson may think this is Earth-shattering news, but Fox News has been ignoring it — CNN found there was no coverage of his allegations on Tuesday morning, nor did it make it to the Fox News website. Also, no statements were released from top executives decrying the alleged spying. The NSA apparently doesn't get people going like CRT does.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Help! Do we really need four Beatles biopics?
Talking Point The cast of Sam Mendes' Beatles biopics has been announced
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Test driving the Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge
The Week Recommends We take the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever built for a spin in Barcelona
By Fergus Scholes Published
-
Tuberculosis is seeing a resurgence, and it's only going to get worse
Under the radar The spread of the deadly infection is buoyed by global unrest
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Sen. Booker's 25-hour speech beats Thurmond
Speed Read He spoke for the longest time in recorded Senate history, protesting the Trump administration's policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bondi seeks death penalty for Luigi Mangione
Speed Read Mangione was charged with fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Democrats win costly Wisconsin court seat
Speed Read Democrats prevailed in an election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite Elon Musk's robust financial support of the Republican candidate
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
WHCA rejects White House press seating grab
Speed Read The White House Correspondents' Association objected to the Trump administration's bid to control where journalists sit during press briefings
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sends more migrants to El Salvador jail
Speed Read Another 17 Venezuelan alleged gang members have been deported to a notorious prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump 'not joking' about unconstitutional 3rd term
Speed Read The president seems to be serious about seeking a third term in 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
Supreme Court upholds 'ghost gun' restrictions
Speed Read Ghost guns can be regulated like other firearms
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published