Fox News host Tucker Carlson unloaded on the Biden administration Tuesday night over a phone call he had with the National Security Agency (NSA) and a statement they put out in response to Carlson saying a source inside the agency informed him the agency was spying on him.
The NSA released the following statement the moment that Carlson’s show started:
On June 28, 2021, Tucker Carlson alleged that the National Security Agency has been ‘monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.’ This allegation is untrue. Tucker 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.
NSA 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 US citizen without a court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting.
Carlson said his show contacted NSA Director Paul Nakasone, whom Carlson described as a “highly political left-wing four star general,” to ask about the alleged scandal, but said Nakasone’s office would not connect him.
“Then, just minutes before air tonight, the NSA sent us an infuriatingly dishonest formal statement, an entire paragraph of lies written purely for the benefit of the intel community’s lackeys at CNN and MSNBC, all those people they hire with the titles on the screen. They also tweeted out a few minutes ago,” Carlson said. “Now, last night on this show, we made a very straightforward claim: NSA has read my private emails without my permission, period. That’s what we said. Tonight’s statement from the NSA does not deny that.”
“Instead, it comes with this non sequitur, in part, quote, ‘Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the agency.’ Okay, glad to know. But the question remains, did the Biden administration read my personal emails?” Carlson continued. “That’s the question that we asked directly to NSA officials when we spoke to them about 20 minutes ago in a very heated conversation. Did you read my emails? And again, they refuse to say, again and again. And then they refused even to explain why they couldn’t answer that simple question. ‘We can’t tell you and we won’t tell you why we can’t tell you.’ My emails.”
“And the message is clear. We can do whatever we want. We can read your personal texts, we can read your personal emails, we can send veiled threats your way to brush you back if we don’t like your politics, we can do anything. We are our own country. And there’s literally nothing you can do about it. We’re in charge, you’re not,” Carlson concluded. “‘Orwellian’ does not begin to describe the experience, it was like living in China. But we should get used to it. Now that the Biden administration has classified tens of millions of patriotic Americans, the kind who served in the military and fly flags in front of their homes, as potential domestic terrorists white supremacist saboteurs, we’re gonna see a whole lot more of this kind of thing. A whole lot more.”
WATCH:
Tucker addresses Psaki's refusal to deny his claim the NSA is spying on him in order to "intimidate" his show and discusses his "very heated" phone call earlier today with top NSA officials in which they refused to say whether or not they read his personal communications: pic.twitter.com/BMiFzbg92t
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 30, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Last night, we told you about the Biden administration’s efforts to monitor and intimidate this show. On Sunday, we heard from a whistleblower within the U.S. government, someone with direct knowledge, who warned us that the NSA was reading our electronic communications, our emails and texts, and was planning to leak them selectively in an effort to hurt us. This person had details from my emails that no one outside the recipient could have known. So it was not a delusion, it was entirely real. In fact, it was confirmed. After the show last night after we announced this, other news organizations acted as if it’s totally normal for heavily politicized intel agencies to spy on and threaten journalists they disagree with. It’s no big deal, stop whining. But it is a big deal. It is completely wrong, not to mention illegally. And this is hardly the first time the so-called intelligence community has done something like this. They’ve done an awful lot of it, look it up. If we let them continue to do it, it’s the end of democracy. Democracy can’t function with semi-independent, highly politicized intel agencies. It’s really dangerous. For its part, the Biden administration just ignored the story. They did not deny the story. They can’t, they know that it’s true. Today, the president’s flack was asked about it on Air Force One. Here’s the exchange.
[BEGIN VIDEO]
REPORTER: Tucker Carlson said that the NSA is spying on him. Is the administration aware of any knowledge or listening to efforts on US citizens by the NSA? And is Tucker Carlson one of them?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, the NSA, as I think you’re well aware — I’m not sure everyone is aware — everyone on this plane is aware, I should say — is an entity that focuses on foreign threats and individuals who are trying — attempting to do us harm on foreign soil. So, that is the — their purview. But beyond that, I would point you to the intelligence community.
[END VIDEO]
CARLSON: It’s like she’s reading a Wikipedia entry. Ask them! But here’s what to notice: no denial. Of course, she’s right that the NSA is chartered to spy on foreigners, not on Americans. That’s illegal. And yet the NSA does routinely spy on Americans. It won’t call it spying. That’s exactly what it is, millions of Americans. And sometimes it does it for political reasons. And everyone knows this. Everyone, including sitting members of the intel committee. Some of them are paranoid about their own communications. That’s true. In Washington, this is just considered fine. But it’s not fine. It is dangerous and it’s wrong. Some faceless hack at a powerful government spy agency decides he doesn’t like what you think, so he’s going to hurt you and there’s nothing you can do about it? That could happen to you. And when it does happen, trust us, NBC News will call you a delusional QAnon conspiracy theorist for complaining about it.
Well, this morning, we decided to just call Paul Nakasone directly. He’s the highly political left-wing four-star general who runs the NSA. The receptionist refused to put us through. We’re American citizens though, so we kept trying because it’s our right. This afternoon we got his direct line and we tried again, Nakasone’s assistance seem shocked that someone whose email the NSA is reading would dare to call the director himself. Shut up, serf. Obey. So they told us Nakasone just wasn’t there. Then, just minutes before air tonight, the NSA sent us an infuriatingly dishonest formal statement, an entire paragraph of lies written purely for the benefit of the intel community’s lackeys at CNN and MSNBC, all those people they hire with the titles on the screen. They also tweeted it out a few minutes ago.
Now, last night on this show, we made a very straightforward claim. NSA has read my private emails without my permission, period. That’s what we said. Tonight’s statement from the NSA does not deny that. Instead, it comes with this non sequitur, in part, quote, ‘Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the agency.’ Okay, glad to know. But the question remains, did the Biden administration read my personal emails? That’s the question that we asked directly to NSA officials when we spoke to them about 20 minutes ago in a very heated conversation. Did you read my emails? And again, they refuse to say, again and again. And then they refused even to explain why they couldn’t answer that simple question. We can’t tell you and we won’t tell you why we can’t tell you. My emails. And the message is clear. We can do whatever we want. We can read your personal texts, we can read your personal emails, we can send veiled threats your way to brush you back if we don’t like your politics, we can do anything. We are our own country. And there’s literally nothing you can do about it. We’re in charge, you’re not. ‘Orwellian’ does not begin to describe the experience, it’s like living in China. But we should get used to it. Now that the Biden administration has classified tens of millions of patriotic Americans, the kind who served in the military and fly flags in front of their homes, as potential domestic terrorists, white supremacist saboteurs, we’re gonna see a whole lot more of this kind of thing. A whole lot more.