Fox News’s Tucker Carlson accused the National Security Agency (NSA) Wednesday night of releasing the contents of his private emails and releasing his identity to at least one journalist, following his accusations of illegal spying by the agency. Last week, Carlson claimed a whistleblower had leaked internal intelligence revealing an NSA operation to spy on and collect his electronic communications.
“Yesterday, we learned that sources in the so-called ‘intelligence community’ told at least one reporter in Washington what was in those emails — my emails,” Carlson said.
“No one in Washington appeared to be shocked in the slightest,” Carlson added. “The usual shills right after our segment had a ready explanation for it: Either it never happened at all, they said, just a cable news show lying for ratings, or there must have been a good reason it happened.” As Carlson noted, dozens of blue checkmarks on Twitter discarded and mocked his claims.
“But [NSA spying] is not normal — at all,” he continued. “It is third-world. And as we told you repeatedly, it did happen. Now, that has been confirmed.”
Tucker addresses the NSA leaking contents of his personal communications to the press after having spied on him pic.twitter.com/efNYvqr2MF
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) July 8, 2021
The contents of the emails, Carlson explained, were communications between the primetime host and sources he thought could “help [the show] get an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.” Carlson said he told nobody but his executive producer Justin Wells about the email communication (since publicity could make the interview fall through), but that the contents of the messages were released anyway.
“The NSA planned to link the contents of those emails to media outlets. Why would they do that?” Carlson asked rhetorically. “The point, of course, was to paint me as a disloyal American; a Russian operative; a stooge of the Kremlin; a traitor doing the bidding of a foreign adversary.”
To do so, according to Carlson, President Joe Biden’s NSA illegally unmasked the host and was planning to give the information to news organizations.
“By law, the NSA is required to keep secret the identities of American citizens who have been caught up in its vast domestic spying operations. So, by law, I should have been identified internally merely as a U.S. journalist, or American journalist. That’s the law,” Carlson said. “But that’s not how I was identified, I was identified by name. I was unmasked.”
He went on to criticize the politicization of the intelligence community. “We cannot have intelligence agencies used as instruments of political control. Both parties used to agree on that. Democrats were especially adamant on the point — but not anymore,” he said. “We need to find out how this happened. Who allowed it?”
The “highly political” director of the NSA, Gen. Paul Nakasone would know the answer, Carlson said. According to Carlson, Nakasone would have been required to personally allow his unmasking. Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, may have personally approved such an operation as well, Carlson said.
“[Haines] would certainly know who asked for [the information] and when approved it. That’s her job to know. She should release that information immediately — tonight,” Carlson said. “And if Haines does not release that information, she should be forced to release that information.”
