NEW: Tucker Carlson Claims He Is Facing Criminal Referral To DOJ

Tucker Carlson says he may be in the crosshairs of federal investigators after communicating with people in Iran, claiming U.S. intelligence officials have already reviewed his private messages.

The former Fox News host said in a video posted on X that the CIA is preparing a criminal referral to the Justice Department, accusing him of acting as an agent of a foreign power. Carlson flatly rejected the allegation.

“The CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report to the Department of Justice on the basis of a supposed crime I committed,” Carlson said in the video.

Carlson said the issue stems from his communications with individuals in Iran before the recent conflict in the region escalated.

He said the alleged offense was simply “talking to people in Iran before the war.”

“They read my texts,” he said.

WATCH:

When you discover the CIA has been reading your texts in order to frame you for a crime. pic.twitter.com/XgoluHw8EG

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 14, 2026

According to Carlson, investigators are considering whether his actions violated federal law governing foreign influence.

“The crime under consideration would be the foreign agent act or something like that, acting as an agent of a foreign power,” Carlson said, apparently referring to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a statute that requires certain individuals working on behalf of foreign governments or political entities to publicly disclose those relationships and related activities.

Carlson said he believes the accusation is baseless and unlikely to lead anywhere.

“I don’t expect this to go anywhere,” he said.

He also insisted he has never worked for any foreign government.

He said he was “not an agent of a foreign power” and remains loyal to the United States, adding he had “never taken money from anybody.”

Carlson suggested the scrutiny may be tied to his criticism of U.S. policy toward Israel.

He said some officials inside the CIA were “mad at me for my views about Israel.”

The comments come as Carlson has increasingly clashed with President Donald Trump over foreign policy, particularly the war involving Israel and Iran’s regional allies.

Trump recently distanced himself from the conservative commentator and former ally.

“Tucker has lost his way,” Trump told ABC News. “He’s not MAGA,” he said.

Carlson has also taken aim at what he says is excessive U.S. support for Israel during the ongoing conflict with Palestinian groups.

“Is it ‘America First’ to take money from a foreign lobby so you’ll send taxpayer dollars to that country? Even the question kind of answers itself, obviously it isn’t. That’s not an attack on Israel; it’s certainly not antisemitism, despite the efforts of many to claim that it is. It’s just an obvious statement,” Carlson said during a Turning Point conference in December.

Carlson did not provide evidence that the CIA or Justice Department has opened a criminal inquiry into him, and the claims could not be independently verified.

Newsweek reported it contacted both the Justice Department and the CIA for comment but did not receive a response outside normal business hours.

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