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.
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.
-
How will Trump's megabill affect you?
Today's Big Question Republicans have passed the 'big, beautiful bill' through Congress
-
Scientists are the latest 'refugees'
In the spotlight Brain drain to brain gain
-
5 dreamy books to dive into this July
The Week Recommends A 'politically charged' collection of essays, historical fiction goes sci-fi and more
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami