Tucker Carlson joined House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in calling for a probe into his claims that the NSA allegedly spies on his texts and emails - which the agency has firmly denied.
Carlson spoke on his Fox News show Wednesday to say that he does not make the claim lightly after McCarthy, the top House Republican, said he supports a Congressional investigation into the NSA.
'Nobody wants to go on TV and say "the government is spying on me". You sound like a lunatic. Except when it's true, and of course it is true,' Carlson said.
'It's not just this show. They are spying on a lot of people and they should stop because it's illegal.'
He added: 'Yesterday, we had a long conversation with the National Security Agency. We got a statement out of them. They effectively conceded "Yes, we read your emails". They have some justification for it.'
'But it's not justified. It never is except in cases where national security is threatened. Nothing we did would ever threaten national security, period.'
Carlson spoke on his show Wednesday to say that he does not make the bizarre claim lightly
McCarthy, the top House Republican, said he supports investigating the NSA
The National Security Agency released a statement (pictured) on Tuesday denying Carlson's claim it is spying on his show in a bid to get him taken off the air
Carlson claimed that the NSA's statement on Tuesday does not directly deny any spying has happened - only that he is not the 'target'.
The Fox News host said that President Joe Biden has 'turned [the agency] on Americans - who he has redefined as combatants, domestic terrorists, white supremacists.'
The agency is led by Gen. Paul Nakasone - an appointee of former President Donald Trump.
The NSA released a statement Tuesday saying that its investigations are focused on foreign intelligence and that it only surveils citizens in 'emergency' situations which require a court order.
'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,' the statement read.
Carlson praised McCarthy and Rep. Matt Gaetz after they called for an investigation into the agency earlier on Wednesday.
McCarthy released a statement on his website noting that he has asked Rep. Devin Nunes to investigate the NSA.
'For the past several months, I have seen a disturbing trend at the National Security Agency,' McCarthy wrote.
'Earlier this year, I sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Austin expressing concern over the politicization of the Agency through the sidelining of Michael Ellis as NSA General Counsel. I asked that Mr. Ellis be reinstated and expressed my concern regarding undue political influence in NSA placing Mr. Ellis on administrative leave.
'Separately, it has recently come to my attention that NSA has refused to deliver information requested by the Republican Members on the House Intelligence Committee who are trying to fulfill their oversight responsibilities.
'Now, there is a public report that NSA read the emails of Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Although NSA publicly denied targeting Carlson, I have serious questions regarding this matter that must be answered.
'Given this disturbing trend, I've asked HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes to investigate and find answers on behalf of the American people. The NSA cannot be used as a political instrument, and House Republicans will ensure accountability and transparency.'
The NSA headquarters are pictured in Fort Meade, Maryland. Carlson has claimed that the NSA is spying on him, and described it as 'incompatible with democracy'
Carlson sparked the controversy on his show Monday night when he said a whistleblower had approached the show the day before and informed them of the espionage.
'Yesterday we heard from a whistle-blower within the US government who reached out to warn us that the NSA, the national security agency, is monitoring our electronic communication and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air,' he said.
Carlson said he knew the whistleblower's information was correct because they had insider knowledge, that could only have come from accessing his communications.
'The whistle-blower who is in a position to know repeated back to us information about a story that we are working on that could have only come directly from my texts and emails,' Carlson said.
'There's no other possible source of that information. None.'
Carlson claimed he was blocked from speaking with NSA Director Gen Paul M Nakasone (pictured)
He pointed the finger directly at the Biden administration, and accused them of spying on him and his show to try and stem his criticism of the government.
'They did it for political reasons,' he said. 'The Biden administration is spying on us. We have confirmed that.'
Carlson doubled down on the comments on Tuesday after the NSA released its statement in response - which he called 'infuriatingly dishonest' and argued did not directly refute what he'd alleged.
He also played a clip of White Press Secretary Jen Psaki responding to a question about Carlson's claims on Air Force One.
Psaki replied: 'Well, the NSA as you are well aware and everyone is aware and everyone on this plane is aware is entities that focus on foreign threats and individuals who are attempting to do us harm on foreign soil. So that is their purview, but beyond that, I would point to the intelligence community.'
Carlson reacted to Psaki's comments by saying: 'The Biden administration ignored the story. They did not deny the story. They can't. They know it is true.'
He went on to say that his team had reached out to NSA Director Nakasone, but was denied access to him.
Then minutes before he went on air Tuesday, Carlson said the NSA 'sent us an infuriatingly dishonest formal statement with an entire paragraph of lies written entirely for the benefit of its lackeys at CNN and MSNBC.
'Last night on the show, we made a straightforward claim: The NSA has read my private emails without my permission. That is what we said.
'Nakasone, in tonight's statement from the NSA, does not deny that. Instead, it comes with this, in part "Tucker Carlson has never been intelligence target of the agency".
'Okay, glad to know, but the question remains: Did the Biden administration read my personal email? That is the question that we asked directly to NSA officials when we spoke to them about 20 minutes ago in a very heated conversation. Did you read my email?
'And again, they refused to say again and again, and refused to explain why they couldn't answer that simple question. We can't tell you and we won't tell you why we can't tell you.
'And the message was clear, we can do whatever you want. We can read personal texts, emails and send threats your way to brush you back if we don't like your politics, we can do anything.
'We are our own country and there is nothing you can do about it. We are in charge, you are not. Orwellian does not begin to describe the experience. It was like living in China.
'Now that the Biden administration has classified tens of millions of patriotic Americans, the kind who served in the military and fly flags in front of their homes, as potential domestic terrorists, white supremacist saboteurs, we're going to see a whole lot more of this kind of thing. A whole lot more.'
Carlson then welcomed civil rights attorney Harmeet Dhillon, asking her why average American citizens like himself are unable to find out whether they've been targeted by 'some bureaucrat and spy agency'.
'Well you should be able to find out Tucker,' she said, adding that she was 'not surprised' by his experience trying to get answers.
Former President Donald Trump responded to Carlson's allegations in an interview with The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show on Tuesday, saying: 'I think it's true.'
Trump suggested that the NSA may have targeted Carlson because he was among those questioning the validity of the presidential election last fall.
'It's totally believable, if you look at the whole thing with what's going on - I think it's true. They're trying to suppress the vote, they're trying to suppress going into elections to find voter fraud, they want those people suppressed. They don't want anything to do with that because the election was totally fraudulent,' he said.
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