Dems Up in Arms About McCarthy Allegedly Giving 41,000-Hour Jan. 6 Footage to Conservative Pundit

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been subjected to harsh criticism by top Congressional Democrats for allegedly giving access to the Capitol breach footage to a US conservative pundit. Top Dems claim that McCarthy's move poses a grave threat to the security of the American people.

Scandal erupted on the Capitol Hill over reports alleging that the GOP House speaker provided US journalist Tucker Carlson and his team with 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the January 6, 2021 protests.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the alleged move an "egregious security breach," while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer insisted that Kevin McCarthy is "needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11."

It appears that Democratic members of the now defunct January 6 Select Committee feel especially disheartened. The committee's chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said in an official statement: "If Speaker McCarthy has indeed granted Tucker Carlson – a Fox host who routinely spreads misinformation and Putin's poisonous propaganda – and his producers access to this sensitive footage, he owes the American people an explanation of why he has done so and what steps he has taken to address the significant security concerns at stake."

41,000 Hours of Footage

It was Axios who broke that Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin examining the 41,000-hour trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over the Capitol grounds. According to the media, excerpts may begin airing in the coming weeks.

In the wake of the report, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene praised McCarthy's alleged move: "For all of you that doubted we would release the tapes. Here you go! I'm very happy to be right again in my support for Kevin McCarthy as our Speaker. Americans deserve to see the truth, not a one sided narrative and unfair two tiered justice system," she tweeted on February 20.

The US media reported last month that the release of the full footage of the Capitol protests was one of the promises McCarthy made to his MAGA opposition in order to win the speaker's gavel. The speaker was also quoted by the Washington Times as saying: "I think the public should see what happened on that day." According to McCarthy, the January 6 protests have been heavily politicized by the Democratic majority in the US Congress. "We watched the politicization of this. I think the American public should actually see what happened instead of a report that's written on a political basis," McCarthy said.

From 9/11-Style Commission to January 6 Select Committee

Following the January 6, 2021 breach of the Capitol, the Democratic Party attempted to create an independent 9/11-style commission to look into what they called the "insurrection" on Capitol Hill. Even though the House of Representatives passed the January 6 panel bill in May 2021, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell axed the endeavor, stressing that the proposed commission would duplicate law enforcement and congressional efforts underway to investigate the roots of the DC protests.

In response, House Dems formed the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in July 2021 which had only two Republicans on board, with both of them long known for their criticism of ex-President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. The committee was strongly criticized by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said at the time that "Republicans will not be party to [Pelosi's] sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts."

Republicans have repeatedly lambasted the Democratic-dominated January 6 select committee for politicization of the riots and attempts to smear protesters as "domestic terrorists." US conservative pundits called upon the committee to release the full footage of the protests instead of cherry-picking videos showing rows and clashes between the Capitol Police and protesters.

Was It an FBI Trap?

American conservative pundits drew attention to various videos popping up on the Internet allegedly showing that Capitol policemen in some instances voluntarily let the crowd in or encouraged some of the protesters to enter the building. This prompted some US investigative journalists to suggest that the protesters were deliberately set up. They also suggested that there were FBI provocateurs within the crowd who sought to smear Trump supporters and the MAGA movement in general.

On September 29, 2021 The New York Times reported that an FBI informant marched into the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which to some extent echoed US conservatives' suspicions. The piece revealed that the agency actually had at least a couple of informants in right-wing groups on the ground who claimed that there was no plan in advance to enter the Capitol. Still, some US investigative journalists insisted that there could have been more than two FBI infiltrators in the crowd. They argued that the release of all video evidence in possession of the Congress and law enforcement officers could shed more light on this.

Meanwhile, the FBI and DoJ have been criticized by Republican lawmakers for cracking down on January Sixers and using excessive force against them. An FBI whistleblower stepped forward last year accusing the agency of the apparent misuse of SWAT teams that were sent to raid American protesters not accused of violent crimes and having no criminal record.

The US conservative press has drawn attention to multiple instances of MAGA Americans receiving draconian treatment for participating in the January 6 protests. Thus, Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who was photographed putting his legs on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk, got a 47-year prison sentence. Time will tell whether the January footage will really see the light of day and help sort out the controversy surrounding the Capitol breach.