Tucker Carlson’s name in communications intercepted by the National Security Agency was revealed through the process of “unmasking,” according to a new report.
The Fox News host’s communications, which were said to be about scheduling an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, were not a target of the NSA, which the agency has already stated, and were not incidentally collected through the process of spying on a foreign target, sources told the Record.
The report said Carlson’s identity was instead disclosed through a process known as “unmasking,” which is when the names of U.S. citizens that are mentioned but covered up in final intelligence reports about the surveillance of foreigners are revealed upon the request of authorized officials, who have the ability to ask for the disclosures, often to understand the information better.
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Carlson first told his audience of millions late on June 28 about a government source informing him of an NSA “spying” scheme to leak his team’s electronic communications to take his show off the air. Carlson affirmed in part that the communications at issue were talks with U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries, who have not been publicly identified, about setting up an interview with Putin.
News outlets often seek interviews with world leaders. NBC News conducted one with Putin last month before he met with President Joe Biden for a summit in Geneva.
The NSA released a rare public statement on June 29 saying Carlson was “never” a target of the agency and denied a plot to get Carlson’s show taken off the air. However, the statement did not preclude the possibility any communications were incidentally collected or Carlson’s name being unmasked by some official in the Biden administration.
“For the NSA to unmask Tucker Carlson or any journalist attempting to secure a newsworthy interview is entirely unacceptable and raises serious questions about their activities as well as their original denial, which was wildly misleading,” a Fox News spokesperson told the Record.
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The NSA declined to comment on the report. The identities of the Record’s sources remain unclear, and it is not evident whether they are even with the NSA. They did claim, the report said, that the NSA found no evidence to support Carlson’s claim about the agency spying on him to take his show off the air.
The identity of the official or officials who made the reported unmasking request remains unknown, but the report cites a former government official who speculated Carlson learned about the situation through an offer of a “defensive briefing” by the FBI against a potential foreign influence operation.
Republicans in Congress, including Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, have made information requests to the NSA as they investigate the matter.
