Tucker Carlson angry at bosses for not backing him over NSA spying claims, report says

Senator Rand Paul asks NSA to explain if they conducted surveillance on the anchor, approved his unmasking, and shared private emails with media

Tucker Carlson is reportedly upset with Fox News for not backing his dispute with the National Security Agency over the conservative host’s spying allegations.

Rival cable network CNN says that "tensions are sky-high" over claims the spy agency obtained the Fox News host’s email communications arranging an interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Quoting anonymous "people familiar with the matter", media reporters Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy claim Mr Carlson is "furious" with network executives and the public relations team for what he is said to believe is a lack of support.

In a response to CNN, Mr Carlson said the story was "absurd" and that he’s not mad at anyone at Fox.

"If I was, I’d say so. I’m mad at you for lying relentlessly. What a loathsome person you are. Please print that," he said.

Fox News did not respond to The Independent’s inquiry of whether tension existed between the network and one of its top stars as a result of the NSA-spying story, which Mr Carlson put forward without any supporting evidence.

In a previous statement to Axios, a Fox News spokesperson said: "We support any of our hosts pursuing interviews and stories free of government interference."

The response was to reports Mr Carlson emailed Russian "intermediaries" in the US about an interview with Putin at the time of the NSA spying allegations.

Mr Carlson viewed it as wholly insufficient, according to CNN. The story has been featured prominently on the Fox Business Network program of colleague Maria Bartiromo, who interviewed Mr Carlson after his emails were leaked to the media.

“There was one other person who knew I sent that email, and it was my executive producer Justin Wells, that’s it, and I didn’t mention it to anybody else, including my wife," Mr Carlson said.

"There’s no possibility that anyone else could have known and then again yesterday I got a call before air like 7.15, from a journalist I know and like, not many left, but do I like this person he repeated back to me what’s in my email. He got it, because the NSA leaked it, so, yes, entirely real.”

The allegations have led to calls from senator Rand Paul, who sits on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, for an investigation into the claims.

Mr Paul asked the NSA director, General Paul M Nakasone, to explain in detail whether surveillance was conducted on Mr Carlson in his role as a journalist, whether his alleged unmasking was approved, and whether his private emails were shared with other journalists or news organizations.

"When a long train of abuses conducted by the NSA evinces a consistent design to evade the law and violate the constitutionally-protected liberties of the people, the NSA must do more than tweet a carefully worded denial to be trusted," Mr Paul wrote, according to The Hill.

In a tweet on 29 June the NSA said Mr Carlson has never been a "target of the Agency" and that they "never had any plans to try to take his program off the air", which does not directly deny whether they obtained his private emails.