Kevin McCarthy, is reportedly handing over 41,000 hours of unreleased footage from the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol to Fox News host, Tucker Carlson.
According to Axios, “the footage obtained by McCarthy is considered significant in the ongoing investigations into the events of the J6 Riot.”
“Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin digging through the trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds,” Axios’ report noted. “Excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks.”
Tucker Carlson reportedly told Mike Allen the reasons he sought out access to the footage.
“[T]here was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret.”
“If there was ever a question that’s in the public’s interest to know, it’s what actually happened on January 6,” Tucker said. “By definition, this video will reveal it. It’s impossible for me to understand why any honest person would be bothered by that.”
The Speaker of the House’s decision to send Tucker Carlson the footage has received criticism from some Democrats and independent journalists.
According to the Axios report, “the decision to use Carlson as a platform to release the footage has been met with criticism by some, who argue that it is an attempt to manipulate the public’s perception of the events of J6.”
It is important that the January 6 footage be released in full to the public and not simply to a primetime cable news show that specializes in editorial commentary. No matter how thorough the journalistic due diligence that Tucker Carlson and his team undertake, there will be questions by the public and the remainder of the media about whether stories and supporting footage were cherry-picked to further a “narrative.”
Axios correctly notes that “the interpretation of the events depicted in the footage is subjective and depends on the viewer’s political views.”
This is not to argue there can be so such thing as a completely “objective” presentation of the January 6 footage, merely that there must necessarily be varying interpretations. Indeed, Democrats used the January 6 “investigation” as a premise to conduct biased show trials against a former president who was not allowed to represent himself; nor were his supporters within the Republican Party allowed to attend hearings in order to criticize the proceedings.
In addition to journalists wanting the footage released to the public, January 6 defendants have been calling for all of the footage to be disclosed, because it plausibly contains exculpatory evidence in their cases.
The 41,000 hours of footage is being analyzed by experts and journalists who are attempting to gain a deeper understanding of the events of January 6th. There continue to be new revelations coming out based on recent releases of January 6 footage, which will be covered by this journalist.
As reported by Politico in January, McCarthy said that he was willing to make the unreleased security footage public.
“I think the American public should actually see all what happened instead of a report that’s written for a political basis,” McCarthy said
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican from Georgia, touted the expecting forthcoming release of the January 6 footage.
“We are releasing the J6 tapes and not one single lying grifter on social media had anything to do with it,” she said. “I told you we would all along. Stop listening to the losers who claim they know what’s going on bc of their ‘sources’ while they beg you for donations. They don’t know anything and hurt the America First movement just as bad as the Uniparty RINO’s do. Get ready for the truth from J6 because the video tapes are coming!”
In August, a group of House Republicans demanded that the US Capitol Police release all the January 6 footage. In a letter sent to Capitol Police Board Chairman William J. Walker, 23 lawmakers said the release of the footage “is absolutely essential to proper governance and truth.”
“The fact that these tapes have not been released, I think, is just a huge blot on the Department of Justice,” Louie Gohmert told The Washington Times. “It’s just outrageous to the American justice system that they’re not being required to make the videos available.”
The Capitol Police and Biden Justice Department have pushed back against releasing the footage, claiming that it would compromise national security.
Becker News reached out to Kevin McCarthy’s staff for confirmation of this report, as well as Tucker Carlson’s team, and will update the story with more information as forthcoming.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.