NSA watchdog to examine Tucker Carlson ‘unmasking’ claims

The National Security Agency’s (NSA) inspector general said Tuesday that his office will look into claims by Fox News prime-time host Tucker Carlson that his identity was “unmasked” and illegally leaked to the media in retaliation for trying to arrange an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The statement from watchdog Robert Storch said his office was reviewing “recent allegations that the NSA improperly targeted the communications of a member of the U.S. news media.” Carlson initially accused the NSA June 28 of monitoring his emails in an effort to find material that would force Fox to take his top-rated show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” off the air. That claim prompted a rare public denial from the agency, which stated that Carlson “has never been an intelligence target”.