Carlson's Case: Why NSA Watchdog Probe Unlikely to Bring Spying & Unmaskings of Americans to End

On 10 August, the office of the NSA Inspector General announced that it had opened a probe into "recent allegations that the NSA improperly targeted the communications of a member of the US news media." It is believed that the media personality in question is Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who accused the NSA of spying on him in June.

On 28 June, Carlson claimed, citing a whistleblower within the US government, that the National Security Agency (NSA) was monitoring his electronic communications and had planned to leak them to the press to take his show off of the air for "political reasons." The next day, the agency issued a rare and vague denial, stating that "Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target" and that the NSA "never had any plans to try to take his programme off the air."

While the US mainstream press was mocking Carlson's claims as a conspiracy theory, his concerns were at least partially backed by Axios, which revealed on 7 July that US government officials knew about Carlson's efforts to secure an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, something which prompted the host to suspect that he was being spied upon.

On 23 July, The Record reported, citing two unnamed sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, that "Carlson was mentioned in communications between third parties and his name was subsequently revealed through 'unmasking,' a process in which relevant government officials can request the identities of American citizens in intelligence reports to be divulged."

Less than three weeks later, the NSA watchdog announced a probe to examine the nation’s top spy agency's "compliance with applicable legal authorities and Agency policies and procedures regarding collection, analysis, reporting, and dissemination activities, including unmasking procedures." In his statement, the NSA inspector general referred to "recent allegations that the NSA improperly targeted the communications of a member of the US news media."

Although the announcement did not specify the journalist in question there is little doubt that "the investigation pertains to news reports that the identity of Fox News host Tucker Carlson," as independent US journalist Glenn Greenwald highlighted in his latest op-ed.

Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio, in New York, Thursday, March 2, 2017

© AP Photo / Richard Drew

Will IG Storch Dispel Growing Suspicions?

The newly-launched probe prompted a debate on whether the NSA Inspector General, Robert P. Storch, will get to the bottom of the allegations that Carlson has been spied on or will just "credibly put the controversy to rest." 

"I am not convinced that the scope of the NSA IG's investigation is sufficient," says a US lawyer, writer, and researcher using a nom de plume: Techno Fog, on Twitter. "The inspector general will only look at the 'NSA's compliance' with respect to collection, dissemination, and unmasking. It seems that if the improper unmasking and leak of Tucker's name came from elsewhere - such as the Biden White House - then that person would be outside the scope of the investigation."

According to Techno Fog, it's hard to guess about the watchdog's motivations, as he has not specified the reasons for undertaking this probe.

"He merely announced the scope of the investigation," Techno Fog notes. "As with all investigations of the government by the government, we are concerned they will resolve this matter in the government's favour."

NSA National Cryptologic Museum - Mosaic of the NSA Seal

CC BY 2.0 / Thorsten Schroeder / DSC_0602

Was "Unmasking" Tucker the Trigger for the Probe?

Greenwald believes that it is the controversial "unmasking" of Tucker Carlson "which is what appears to have prompted the IG’s decision to investigate the NSA’s activities" regarding the Fox News host.

While the NSA is assigned to spy on foreigners and foreign agents, on some occasions it incidentally collects intelligence on American citizens whose names are ordinarily "masked" in agency reports to protect their privacy. These names could subsequently be unmasked, however, upon special request by authorised US government officials. According to Greenwald, it is unclear whether government officials or NSA spooks themselves initiated the unmasking of Carlson.

"It is extremely difficult to imagine any legitimate reason the NSA or any other intelligence agency would have for seeking to 'unmask' the identity of a journalist who was merely seeking to interview the leader of a foreign country," Greenwald wrote in his op-ed, adding that "some legitimate reason must be supplied to negate the suspicion that the agency knew it was likely Carlson seeking this interview and purposely unmasked his identity with the intent to weaponise the intelligence against him."

As Techno Fog asserts, it appears that "unmaskings" and warrantless spying are a "new normal", although the anonymous lawyer says that they remain skeptical about the efficiency of the newly-launched probe.

There have been several occasions when the government let those involved in warrantless spying and unmasking off the hook. In April 2021, a declassified FISA compliance review written by FISA Court Presiding Judge James Boasberg in November 2020 indicates that the FBI had, on multiple occasions, used the NSA's massive electronic troves for warrantless searches of US citizens' information. Despite instances of 'back-door' data searches and spying on US citizens listed by Boasberg, he shrugged them off and fell short of holding anyone accountable.

According to the Associated Press, over 9,000 identities were unmasked in 2020 alone. The Trump administration was specifically anxious about unmasking after the president's aides were targeted by former Obama officials, according to a 2017 investigation by Devin Nunes' (R-Calif.), then the chairman of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. In 2020, the Justice Department assigned a federal prosecutor to investigate instances of controversial unmasking. However, the prosecutor in question, John Bash, left government employment just months later without announcing any criminal charges or producing any public report, AP noted.

On 14 October, The New York Times claimed that Bash "found no irregularities in those unmasking requests, which revealed that the president’s former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn had appeared in intelligence reports," citing two US officials briefed on the matter.

"The government has framed the rules in such a way that it's nearly impossible to get in trouble for improper unmasking," Techno Fog states, suggesting that the latest probe is likely to leave those allegedly involved in Carlson's unmasking unpunished.