A lot questions are generated regarding this story from NBC News with this headline:
“Tucker Carlson has never been an
intelligence target: NSA dismisses Fox News host's claim”
Highlights from the
article:
The National Security Agency (NSA), on June 29, denied spying on Fox News host Tucker Carlson after Carlson had accused them of monitoring his electronic communications in an attempt to take his show off the air.
The official NSA statement released via on Twitter says: “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 the air. NSA has a foreign intelligence mission. We target foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States. With limited exceptions (e.g. an emergency), NSA may not target a U.S. citizen without an approved court order that explicitly authorizes the targeting of any U.S. citizen.”
Carlson alleged on his show Monday night (June 28) that: “A
whistleblower within the U.S. government informed us that the NSA was monitoring
our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to
take this show off the air. The Biden administration is spying on us” (he implied).
Despite the NSA denial, GOP House Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy (R-CA), in a statement (June 30), said he is calling for an investigation,
adding: “For the past several months, I've seen a disturbing trend at the NSA. The
NSA cannot be used as a political instrument. I’ve asked Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
to investigate and find answers on behalf of the American people.”
My note: Having Rep. Nunes
investigate this is tantamount to having Al Capone run the IRS.
In response to the NSA's statement, Carlson said during his
show that that the agency did not deny reading his emails.
Historical Reminder: Carlson has a history of making false or exaggerated claims.
For example, last September, a U.S. District Court Judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
The Judge said in her statement: “Carlson isn’t stating actual facts about the topics
he discusses. Instead he is engaging in exaggeration and non-literal
commentary. Given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer arrive(s)
with an appropriate amount of skepticism about the statements he makes.”
A Fox News spokesperson referred NBC News to Carlson's Tuesday night segment.
Also, the NSA did not immediately respond to a request
for comment on Carlson's additional claims on his Tuesday evening show.
My 2 Cents: I say make Carlson prove that the NSA is spying or monitoring him. Lies cannot stand on one leg. Make him prove his wild conspiracy is true.
Carlson delves into lunatic-style hyping of false issues and conspiracies most
of the time. It's all hype designed for his audience while trying to increase Fox's ratings, maybe they will reward him with a nice pay raise or fat bonus.
At the same time, it’s
very dangerous to hype conspiracies the way he does in such a convincing manner,
just like Trump and dozens of other Republicans do practically on daily basis and more so over the public airwaves.
Fox’s motto should be: “Disinformation
Passing for News that is Unfair and Unbalanced When You Need It Most.” Hey, just a suggestion.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment