Fox News host Tucker Carlson isn't backing down from his claim that the National Security Agency tried to leak his private emails to the press, inviting a guest on his show to say such an action would be a 'serious federal crime.'
Carlson has said that his communications seeking an interview with Vladimir Putin were intercepted by the NSA, and his identity - which should by law have been kept a secret - was 'unmasked' by senior intelligence officials.
Carlson claimed that the content of his emails and texts was then disseminated to members of the media, in a bid to discredit him as an agent of Russia.
On his show on Thursday, Carlson spoke with legal scholar Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.
'If reporters were given that information, it would be even more serious because even if your email itself was not classified, the intercept is,' said Turley.
'NSA... material is heavily classified. I do national security work and it takes years for me to get access to a FISA warrant, I should say, or an NSA surveillance document,' he added
'So the mere fact that they engaged in surveillance is classified. So it would be a serious federal crime,' said Turley.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviews legal scholar Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University on Thursday
Carlson has said a whistleblower told him that the NSA intercepted his emails attempting to secure an interview with Putin, then spread the information in a smear campaign
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The NSA is generally barred from spying on American citizens, unless the agency obtains a warrant from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
However, it is possible for the agency to collect the communications of Americans if they are in contact with a foreign surveillance target.
Turley said that there were a number of scenarios in which the NSA could have legally intercepted Carlson's emails, but added: 'that doesn't explain the more troubling questions.'
'How that information was circulated and also how your name was not masked,' he said. Masking refers to the practice of redacting the name of U.S. citizens from intercepts, which the NSA is generally required to do.
'Now, you can unmask people in a surveillance documents of that kind but it requires someone to ask for unmasking and there would be no legitimate reason to do so here,' added Turley.
Carlson first revealed his allegations on June 28, saying that he had been alerted by a source in the intelligence community.
On his Wednesday show, Carlson revealed that he was trying to arrange an interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin when he 'was spied on by the NSA'.
Carlson was trying to secure an interview with Vladimir Putin before the Russian leader's June 16 meeting with Joe Biden (above) but the attempt fell through
'Late this spring I contacted a couple of people I thought could help get an interview with the Russian President Vladimir
