Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz called for an independent inspector general investigation into allegations that the National Security Agency monitored Fox News host Tucker Carlson in any way.

A House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday on legislative possibilities to deter “prosecutorial abuse of power” when prosecuting leaks provided a timely and topical forum for lawmakers to address Carlson’s allegations.

“Join me in calling for an inspector general investigation into any monitoring that the NSA or any other element of the intelligence community has engaged in, relative to Tucker Carlson,” Gaetz said to Democratic Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York.

Gaetz noted that he has condemned the reported seizure of records from Democratic members of Congress, aides, and reporters, calling for even outrage across the aisle: “If Democrats don't do this, if you’re only outraged when your members and your staff and the press that's close to you and that amplifies your messages is targeted, then we never are going to solve anything.”

NSA DENIES LEAKING SCHEME TO TAKE TUCKER CARLSON OFF THE AIR

On Monday, Carlson said that a government whistleblower within the NSA alerted his team to the fact that the agency is "spying" on their electronic communications and is "planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air." According to Carlson, the person provided his own personal electronic communications about a story as proof.

The NSA released a statement on Tuesday denying a scheme to surveil Carlson in order to take his show off the air.

"This allegation is untrue," the NSA statement said. "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."

Gaetz called the statement “so couched, it is functionally an admission.”

“What's interesting is there is no denial that they were monitoring Tucker Carlson, even if he wasn't the target,” Gaetz said. “There's probably somebody in Tucker Carlson’s orbit that the NSA was monitoring.”

“I'm equally outraged when they target the people I like and the people I don't like. When they target the press that I watch and the press that I despise,” said Gaetz, who has been under fire for his continued participation in Judiciary Committee hearings despite federal investigators reportedly looking into allegations that he had sexual relations with a minor or paid for sex. The Florida congressman has repeatedly denied the allegations.

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Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the ranking member on the committee, also mentioned Carlson’s allegations when discussing due process concerns with intelligence collection.

“Tucker Carlson stated on his show the other night his belief that the NSA was monitoring his communications,” Jordan said. “While the NSA said in a carefully worded statement — I encourage all of you to read that — that Mr. Carlson was not the target, not a target, they didn’t deny that they had reviewed his communications.”

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Tags: News, Matt Gaetz, Tucker Carlson, NSA, Congress, House Judiciary Committee

Original Author: Emily Brooks

Original Location: Matt Gaetz calls for inspector general investigation into Tucker Carlson NSA allegations