WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The National Security Agency\u2019s internal watchdog said Tuesday it would investigate allegations that the agency \u201cimproperly targeted the communications of a member of the U.S. news media\u201d following Fox News host Tucker Carlson\u2019s claims that the NSA tried to shut down his show.<\/p>\n
The announcement puts the NSA\u2019s inspector general at the center of a politically volatile issue. Conservatives have for weeks demanded an investigation into Carlson\u2019s claim that a major U.S. spy agency targeted his show, an allegation for which he has provided no evidence.<\/p>\n
According to a statement, the review by Inspector General Robert Storch will examine NSA\u2019s \u201ccompliance with applicable legal authorities\u201d and the agency\u2019s own policies on collecting and sharing information it collects. The inspector general will also examine whether any of the agency\u2019s actions were based on \u201cimproper considerations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inspector general\u2019s office can open an investigation on its own or in response to a request from lawmakers or others who have reported alleged wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will clear the air,\u201d said Glenn Gerstell, who served as NSA\u2019s general counsel from 2015 to 2020 and worked closely with Storch. \u201cI think it\u2019s entirely appropriate for the inspector general to take a look at any allegations and, in this case, put them to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlson initially claimed in late June that the NSA was \u201cmonitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.\u201d He said an unnamed whistleblower had contacted his show with details about a possible story that he said could only have come from reading his text messages and emails.<\/p>\n
That prompted a rare statement from the normally reclusive NSA denying his claims. \u201cTucker 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,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n
Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the statement for side-stepping the question of whether the NSA had intercepted Carlson\u2019s communications whether or not he was a target of an investigation.<\/p>\n
In a statement Tuesday, Rubio said the inspector general\u2019s review \u201cis an important step toward ensuring public confidence. It is important that this review is as transparent as possible so it doesn\u2019t fuel further public suspicion and distrust.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NSA collects signals intelligence \u2014 emails, text messages, and other electronic communications \u2014 on foreign targets for a range of purposes including counterterrorism and cybersecurity. It is supposed to target U.S. citizens only in rare instances.<\/p>\n
Americans mentioned in collected intelligence must have their identities withheld unless U.S. officials with proper clearance and a good reason ask for their names to be revealed, a process known as \u201cunmasking.\u201d<\/p>\n
NSA last month notified the House and Senate intelligence committees that Carlson\u2019s name was mentioned by unknown third parties and unmasked at the request of an official, The Record and CNN reported. Axios has reported that Carlson was seeking an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin and speaking to U.S. based intermediaries. It\u2019s not clear whether that reported outreach led Carlson\u2019s communications to be captured by U.S. authorities.<\/p>\n
More than 9,000 people\u2019s identities were \u201cunmasked\u201d in 2020, according to an intelligence review published earlier this year. While there is nothing illegal about the unmasking process, former President Donald Trump repeatedly assailed the unmasking of his associates prior to his inauguration by officials in the Obama administration. National security officials under Trump routinely used the unmasking process themselves as part of their work.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department last year assigned a federal prosecutor to investigate unmasking, but that prosecutor, John Bash, left the government months later without announcing any criminal charges or producing any public report.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the agency said Tuesday that NSA \u201cremains fully committed to the rigorous and independent oversight provided by the NSA Inspector General\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox News said in a statement that the network was \u201cgratified to learn the NSA\u2019s egregious surveillance of Tucker Carlson will now be independently investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.<\/p>\n