Antisemitic political commentator Tucker Carlson claims the CIA is spying on him and is preparing a criminal referral to the Department of Justice over alleged violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
In a video statement released Saturday, Carlson alleged that U.S. intelligence officials accessed his text messages and are considering accusing him of acting on behalf of a foreign power because he communicated with individuals in Iran before the outbreak of war.
“The other day I found out that the CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me,” Carlson said in the video. “What’s the crime? Talking to people in Iran before the war.”
Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, it is illegal to lobby or advocate on behalf of a foreign government without registering with the U.S. government. Carlson denied that he had acted on behalf of any foreign entity and dismissed the idea of a criminal case as “ludicrous.”
“I’m not an agent of a foreign power,” Carlson said. “I have only one loyalty, and that’s the United States.”
Carlson insisted that communicating with foreign sources is simply part of his job as a journalist and commentator.
“It’s my job to talk to everybody all the time and try to figure out what’s happening around the world,” he said. “I’m an American. I can talk to anybody.”
Following the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28 — the U.S.-Israeli strikes that triggered the current war — Carlson condemned the conflict in unusually harsh terms, calling it “absolutely disgusting and evil.”
The comments drew a rare public rebuke from President Donald Trump, who said Carlson had “lost his way” and declared that the conservative commentator was “not MAGA.”
Several prominent voices on the political right have also intensified their criticism of Carlson.
Fox News host Mark Levin and others have accused him of amplifying narratives favorable to America’s adversaries in the Middle East. Some critics have even alleged that Carlson receives financial backing from Qatar, a claim Carlson has strongly denied.
Sen. Ted Cruz recently described Carlson as “the single most dangerous demagogue in this country” and accused him of spreading antisemitic rhetoric.
Carlson rejected those accusations in his video and suggested that the alleged intelligence investigation may be politically motivated.
“There are some people who are mad at me for my views about Israel,” Carlson said, suggesting that the purported referral could be part of an effort to intimidate him or damage his reputation.
In the video, Carlson argued that intelligence agencies routinely monitor American citizens and warned that such practices tend to increase during wartime.
“Countries tend to become more authoritarian in wartime,” he said. “There’s much less tolerance for dissent.”
Carlson claimed the alleged referral could be used to justify surveillance warrants or be leaked to the media to embarrass him — something he says has happened before.
He pointed to a 2021 incident during his time at Fox News, when he said the National Security Agency intercepted and leaked his communications while he was attempting to arrange an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“When a reporter calls you and knows the contents of your texts, it’s pretty clear something’s going on,” Carlson said.
Carlson framed the alleged investigation as part of a broader pattern of intelligence agencies targeting political figures, comparing it to the Russiagate controversy that engulfed Washington during the Trump presidency.
As of Saturday, neither the CIA nor the Department of Justice has confirmed the existence of any criminal referral involving Carlson.
The CIA typically does not investigate U.S. citizens domestically, a role primarily handled by the FBI.
Carlson himself said he does not believe the matter will lead to an actual prosecution.
“I doubt it will even become a case,” he said.
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17 Responses
This moron really believes he’s that relevant?
When you label someone an antisemite, you should back that up with some facts, which you cannot do here. But he has explicitly stated that he has always gotten along well with “Ultra-Orthodox Jews” and that his faith forbids him to hate any group. He even had a Chabad Jewish Woman as a guest when he was his prior employer, in addition to his various statements against Jew-hatred.
You can disagree with his politics, including his opinions on various wars, but he has never expressed nor otherwise shown any hatred of Jews.
The most anti-Jewish thing we know from him is a single interview he did with an actual antisemite in which he did push back against his guest’s Jew-hatred, even if not strongly enough for our liking. But that’s not a reason to label him an “antisemite”. Save that for the actual antisemites, and don’t libel people.
@YWN, please do not post videos of this mamzer, as it causes him many extra click which he profits off. Thank you.
Acting on behalf of the Iranian government before the war began would be a FARA violation. But if they can prove he acted on the Iranian government’s behalf after the war started, that would be treason! And if they can prove he spoke to the IRGC and delivered a message on their behalf, whether before or after the war started, he can be charged with giving material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
What about charging him with antisemitic incitement for his open rants against Chabad?? That shouldn’t need any spying – he made them publicly and proudly!
Qatarlsen, Momdummy, interesting how antisemites all play the victim card when cornered.
This America-last , knows he us kyibg, hut like his role model Goebbeles, he wishes his listeners to believe his falsehoods.
Especially his devilish behaviors was noted when this fascist masquerading as “just asking questions” promoted WWII revisionist neo-nazi type Darril Cooper, and in 20025 Hitler-fan-Fuentes.
Recently this supposed Bible reader lied to Huckabee when he Saud all Abrahans’s children gave right to Usrael. When in fact, Arabs (which of course includes grandchildren of Arab immigrants – called “palestinians” since the 1960s) are specifically excluded. Genesis 21:12.
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This America-last , knows he is lying, but like his role model Goebbeles, he wishes his listeners to believe his falsehoods. Especially his devilish behaviors was noted when this fascist masquerading as “just asking questions” promoted WWII revisionist neo-nazi type Darril Cooper, and in 2025 Hitler-fan-Fuentes.
Recently this supposed Bible reader shamelessly lied to Huckabee when he said all Abrahams’s children have right to Israel. When in fact, Arabs (which of course includes grandchildren of Arab immigrants – called “palestinians” since the 1960s) are specifically excluded. Genesis 21:12. ?????? ??, ??: “?? ????? ???? ?? ???”.
This comes weeks after exposed as a lowlife liar about being “harassed” in airport. Tuckiyya Qatarlson!
I cant stand Tucker Carlson. I dont agree with him on his views either. However, calling him an anti semite is extremely dangerous for multiple reasons. First off, you have no proof. In this case, i would not be surprised if there is a strong defamation case for posting this. I have never seen heard or read any anti semetic comments attributed to him. Please be careful as I really enjoy reading the Yeshiva World and I would not want it to have to have a legal issue over this. I am tired of seeing people not able to make a distinction between not agreeing with the Israeli Government and being an anti semite. Even arguing and speaking out against them doesnt make him an anti semite. If someone speaks out against chinese govermnent that means they hate chinese people? Going against the Russian government means you hate Russians? It sounds ridiculous.
I cannot be an anti semite, i once saw a Jew on the street. lol
@steven.wright
Unfortunately he is.
A historical mistake by many is not knowing the power of a person, and thinking that mocking them will help.
That method stopped after WWII, when psychological warfare was used by both sides, from the OSS (pre-CIA) and the SIS/Section V (pre MI5 and MI6) running anti nazi radio stations in Germany, putting itching powder in their unifroms etc.
Since then it hasn’t really worked, the British tried using it by creating a whole lifestyle around belittling the Irish with Jokes and comedy but it didn’t really help in the end, the USA by running jokes about the blacks, non of them really succeeded in what their creators wanted from them.
The cleverest thing is to know your enemy, don’t take anything he says at face value, but think it through before discarding it, there may be a point in what he says.
Making as if you can ignore this crackpot won’t help, he has unfortunately many a big following, in fact too big, which won’t help to just say does he really think hes that relevant, because unfortunately he is….
You want proof Carlson is an antisemite? Some of the most anti-semitic posters on Yeshiva World who express endless amount of vitriol and hatred for other Jews are now bending over backwards with such crooked logic to defend him. With the same passion they use to attack and stir up hatred for other Jews. They clearly identify with him and see him as one of their own kind. So should we.
On another note if there were some political commentator who usually focused on American domestic affairs that suddenly became with the Chinese government and was endlessly telling his audience how terrible China is including accusations that are almost certainly false I would assume he is motivated by hatred of all Chinese people.
@smerel:
You want proof Carlson is not an antisemite? Some of the most pro-Torah posters on YWN who express endless amount of support for unadulterated Torah (as opposed to Zionism, for example) are applying simple unadulterated logic to show that there is zero proof in calling him an antisemite.
On another note, he has before certainly focused also on foreign affairs, including with the whole Russia-Ukraine war, where he actually got on a plane and flew to Russia and interviewed the Russian President there.
Ido, What about charging him with antisemitic incitement
Look up the definition of incitement. It is speech that is both (1) likely and (2) intended to cause its audience to commit a crime (3) immediately. Basically it means whipping people up into such an emotional state of mind that they temporarily lose their free will and immediately go and commit a crime without stopping to think about it. If even one of these three elements is missing it’s not incitement. Obviously all three are missing from Carlson’s poisonous broadcasts, so he can’t be prosecuted for that.
Jimstanvo, don’t be silly. Of course he’s an antisemite. He shows it regularly. When he worked for Fox he kept it hidden because he knew he would be fired if he showed it, but once they fired him anyway he had nothing to hide. Pat Buchanan did the same thing; while he was in the GOP he hid his antisemitism, but once he left the party he let it out.
And no, there is NO defamation case that he could bring. Even if someone really is not an antisemite, he cannot sue someone for calling him one. Saying that someone is an antisemite, or a racist, or anything like that, is inherently an opinion, not a statement of fact. And therefore it is not actionable. For it to be defamatory you would have to give an exact quote from him, that he didn’t actually say. If he said it but you drew the wrong conclusion from it, that’s not defamation.
Mr Hakatan. I’ve never seen ANYTHING from the Carlson supporters indicating that their bottomless hatred for other Jews is motivated by a love or support for Torah. They reference Torah in the exclusive political context of attacking Zionists (they ignore many far worse haters of Torah). It isn’t something they ever reference in relation to themselves. Even when they do reference, they always do so in a very vague way and limit it to rhetoric against others that may or may not be true. Gemora and Rishonim you will never see them say. They are a political hate group no different in substance or style than many non-Jewish political hate groups. Which is why they defend Carlson. They are not two sides of the same coin. They are both the same side of the same coin.