Fox News host Tucker Carlson seems scandalized reporters are investigating his NSA spying claims

For nearly two weeks, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been claiming on air that the National Security Agency is "monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air," as he alleged on his June 28 broadcast, citing a "whistleblower within the U.S. government." The NSA denied Carlson's allegations in a rare, carefully worded statement.

The NSA spying on an American and a member of the journalism profession would be big news and scandalous behavior by the government, but Carlson's story has some puzzling gaps — what did he say that plausibly threatens to "take this show off the air"? — he hasn't provided any supporting evidence, and Fox News lawyers successfully argued in court last year that viewers shouldn't take Carlson's statements as fact. So reporters have dug around.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.