UPDATE 1-American Watchdog Launches Investigation Amid Media Spying Allegations

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(Adds comments from Fox News, NSA and NSA OIG, additional signature)

By Sarah N. Lynch and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (Reuters) – The National Security Agency’s (NSA) internal watchdog said on Tuesday it was opening an investigation into allegations the agency inappropriately spied on a member of the U.S. media.

The Inspector General’s office has not identified the reporter or media outlet at the heart of its review, but the development comes months after Conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed he heard a whistleblower tell him that the NSA was monitoring his communications in a plot to disclose them and force him off the air.

At the end of June, the NSA took the unusual step https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-intelligence-agency-says-it-isnt-spying-foxs-tucker-carlson-2021-06-30 of publicly denying these allegations.

“This allegation is false. Tucker Carlson was never a target of Agency intelligence and the NSA never intended to try to take its program off the air,” the NSA said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Inspector General Robert Storch said in a written statement that his office “is reviewing the NSA’s compliance with applicable legal authorities and Agency policies and procedures regarding collection, analysis, reporting and reporting activities. dissemination, including unmasking procedures, and whether such actions were based on improper considerations. “

The inspector general’s office declined to comment further.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an unidentified person as saying the review was for Carlson.

Fox News, a unit of Fox Corp, is “pleased” to learn that the alleged surveillance “will now be independently investigated,” a spokesperson said. “As we said, for the NSA to unmask Tucker Carlson or any reporter trying to get a newsworthy interview is totally unacceptable.”

An NSA spokesperson said the agency “remains fully committed to the rigorous and independent oversight provided by the NSA Inspector General’s office.” (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, David Shepardson and Chris Bing; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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