Overview
- Carlson said in a video that the CIA prepared a criminal referral to the Justice Department tied to his prewar communications with people in Iran under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
- He claimed intelligence officials read his text messages and would cite those exchanges as the basis for potential action.
- He rejected the idea that he acted as a foreign agent, stating he has taken no money from foreign governments and calling any case against him legally baseless.
- He suggested his criticism of Israel may have motivated some within the intelligence community to target him and warned that referrals can be used to justify surveillance warrants or leaks.
- Coverage notes the CIA generally does not run domestic investigations, with any FARA enforcement handled by the DOJ and typically investigated by the FBI, and reports also highlight recent public rebukes of Carlson from President Donald Trump and conservative figures.