The controversial American influencer Tucker Carlson published a new video yesterday in which he claims that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is preparing to submit a criminal referral against him to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Carlson, known for his sharp criticism of Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump, claims the move stems from conversations he held in Iran before the outbreak of the current war.
According to him, the procedure is being considered because of discussions he had with people in Iran before the war. In the video, he said: “So, the other day I found out that the CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report, the Department of Justice, on the basis of a supposed crime I committed. What's that crime? Well, talking to people in Iran before the war. They read my texts."
According to Carlson, the CIA is examining the possibility of accusing him of violating the Foreign Agents law, claiming he acted as an agent of a foreign power due to his contacts with individuals in Iran.
However, he stressed that he is not afraid of legal proceedings and argued that he did not act on behalf of any foreign country. “I'm not an agent of a foreign power, unlike a lot of people commenting on US politics and global affairs. I have only one loyalty, and that's the United States, and have never acted against it. Its interests are the only interests I care about because I'm from here and I have a lot of kids."
He also said that he never received money from foreign sources and that his role requires him to speak with people from around the world. “I've also never taken money from anybody, don't need it, don't want it, and that's provable. And moreover, it's my job to talk to everybody all the time and try and figure out what's happening around the world.
He later criticized the activities of the American intelligence community and claimed that it monitors US citizens. According to him, “Another point to make that is worth knowing is that the USIC, the intelligence agency, spy on Americans. Now, you probably knew that, and it's been revealed a lot, including by Julian Assange and Ed Snowden, both of whom threatened with death for revealing it, but everyone knows. But it's probably a little more widespread than most people understand, and it's outrageous. There's no justification for your government, which you own, you're a shareholder in it, you pay for it, to be violating your privacy like this."
Carlson claimed that some individuals within the intelligence agencies are acting against him because of his views regarding Israel. “But it happens all the time, and in fact, one of the reasons that CIA or people within CIA, just to be clear, it's a huge, sprawling, disconnected agency. What it does in a specific case doesn't represent what everybody in the building thinks, but there are some people who are mad at me for my views about Israel, and they have some latitude. And one of the reasons they pass on criminal complaints, in effect, to law enforcement is to justify warrants for spying on Americans."
According to him, one of the methods used is opening reviews or submitting criminal referrals in order to justify obtaining surveillance warrants against citizens and then leaking the existence of the investigation to the media.
At the end of the video, he said he was not publishing the statements in order to complain but to warn the public. “None of this, in my judgment, as of right now, is a huge threat to me, so I'm not making this video to complain about it or whine or ask you to send me money because I'm under attack. I'm saying it because it's true, and you should know what your own government is doing, and you should know what the stakes are, and you should know that a lot of what happens in this country that affects outcomes happens behind the scenes.
In the discussion that developed following Carlson's remarks, lawyer and conservative activist Will Chamberlin also responded on the X network and raised another possible explanation for the affair.
Chamberlain wrote that if the CIA knew about Carlson's connection to Iranian officials, it's likely that President Donald Trump would have known as well. "If the CIA knew that he was talking to the Iranians, then President Trump would have known that also, when he invited Tucker into the Oval a few days before the strike," he said.
He then raised another hypothesis, writing that this may have been part of a strategic maneuver against Iran. He said, "Which means Trump may have used Tucker to deceive the Iranians about the likelihood of an impending attack."