Normally, it’s not in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) best interest to announce who it is and isn’t spying on. It defeats the entire secrecy element that’s so crucial to the act of espionage.
But earlier this week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he had indisputable evidence that the NSA was monitoring his communications in an effort to get his show thrown off the air.
Which… maybe? The government ostensibly does not spy on journalists, but in practice, it has repeatedly done just that. So while Carlson’s claim could be dismissed as bombast from a talk show host, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he were right.
Last night, however, the NSA issued a statement publicly denying the claims.
“This allegation is untrue,” the agency wrote. “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 this air.”
Naturally, the government’s most secretive agencies have a penchant for denying illegal things they’ve done.
On his show last night, Carlson called the statement “infuriatingly dishonest” and said the statement didn’t address his central claim.
“Last night on this show, we made a very straightforward claim: NSA has read my private emails without my permission … Tonight’s statement from the NSA does not deny that.”
So the question is: Who do you believe?