Some folks said this was crazy talk until the intelligence community decided to out itself. It pretty much admitted that everything Tucker Carlson alleged concerning the IC spying on him was true. The Fox News host dropped this bombshell on his show in late June. A whistleblower came forward, said the National Security Agency (NSA) was tracking him and vowed to get more information. The NSA issued a non-denial, denial statement about the matter. The Biden White House also didn't give a straight answer about this allegation.
An NSA spokesman declined to comment and referred Axios back to the agency's earlier, carefully-worded, statement. In other words, the NSA is denying the targeting of Carlson but is not denying that his communications may have been incidentally collected. https://t.co/puTyIEUTEi
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 7, 2021
Who requested to unmask his name? It’s an easy answer for Avril Haines….there’s always a list of requesters kept. Always. https://t.co/vOnifGtdxG
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 7, 2021
WHO UNMASKED @TuckerCarlson and leaked his emails? There is a crime in this chain of events.
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) July 7, 2021
Then, the IC decided to leak to Axios that it was spying on Tucker. It unmasked his name, and now some House Republicans are demanding answers (via Daily Caller):
A group of House Republicans sent a Tuesday letter to the National Security Agency (NSA) demanding information about allegations the agency illegally spied on Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson.
[…]
The letter was signed by 15 other House Republicans who all called for the following information:
“A detailed description of the “limited exceptions” that would permit the NSA to target a US citizen without a court order, as the Agency understands the term as it is used in its own tweet.
A detailed description of what constitutes an “emergency” that would permit the NSA to target a US citizen without a court order, as the Agency understands the term as used in its own tweet.
A detailed description of “the foreign activities that could harm the United States”, as the Agency understands the phrase as used in its own tweet.
A full explanation of when the Agency understands it is lawful to monitor, surveil, collect, unmask, or receive data on a US citizen without a court order explicitly authorizing such targeting, including while conducted in the course of targeting foreign powers.
A detailed description of how the Agency defines “domestic terrorist” and when its mission could extend to targeting foreign powers who are corresponding with individuals defined as such.
A detailed description of your understanding of the term “clandestine intelligence activities.”
What specific actions have been taken to hold accountable those who unmasked, approved unmasking, or shared information on unmasked U.S. citizens?”
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This isn't the first time the IC has unmasked those deemed to be part of the political opposition. Let's not forget that Susan Rice unmasked Trump officials on NSA transcripts. And sorry, given the Russian collusion fiasco, which was a Democrat-led political operation to hamstring the Trump administration through the intelligence community, there's not a single thing I wouldn't put past them. They doctored forms to secure an illegal spy warrant on Carter Page. Need I say more? There are many institutions working to ensure they keep people with whom they disagree out. This example is no different.
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