Tucker Carlson NSA Allegations Spark Calls for Agency To Be Defunded and Investigated

Tucker Carlson's claims that he is being spied on by the NSA have prompted a wave of figures to call for the agency to be investigated and defunded.

The Fox News host made explosive claims on the Monday night edition of the Tucker Carlson Tonight show that a "whistleblower within the U.S. government" said the National Security Agency (NSA) had been spying on him.

Carlson said that he became convinced his private information was being looked at by agency staff when the purported whistleblower reportedly revealed what story his team was working on.

The Fox News host said: "[That information] could have only come directly from my texts and emails. There's no other possible source for that information, period."

"The NSA captured that information without our knowledge and did it for political reasons. The Biden administration is spying on us. We have confirmed that."

His explosive spying allegations sparked conservative and libertarian figures and organizations to hit out at the NSA and FBI.

Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CL) said in a tweet: "The House Committee on Oversight and Reform should immediately and thoroughly investigate Tucker Carlson's claim that the NSA is spying on him.

"If this is indeed true, criminal charges should be brought on those who have violated this private citizen's rights."

The Libertarian Party of Texas called for funding to be halted to the agency and simply said on the social media platform: "Defund the NSA."

Republican House candidate for Virginia Jarome Bell added: "Defund the FBI NSA CIA."

In a statement sent to Newsweek, the NSA said: "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."

Newsweek has contacted Fox News for comment.

Carlson also received support from the founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, who claimed every journalist was being spied on.

In a tweet, he said: "Someone pls ask Tucker Carlson to send me a DM. I'll explain to him how the NSA is spying on him and every U.S. journalist/ citizen by circumventing U.S. laws."

He continued: "Not planning to be on his show but happy to give him the background he needs to understand how it works."

The entrepreneur is now facing an extradition battle from New Zealand, where he has a residency permit after a court ruled he could be extradited to the U.S. where he faces up to 20 years in jail if he is convicted of copyright infringement, money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering.

The charges were originally brought against him by the United States Department of Justice in 2012 over his website, Megaupload.