Why now?
House Republicans are taking a hiatus from releasing any further footage of the January 6 insurrection they gave to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson and have gone on the offense against Democrat criticism.
GOP leaders had emphasized that no clips would be broadcast without security clearance while criticizing Democrats for not doing the same when they released footage to the now-defunct January 6 Panel.
After confirming that McCarthy had given him what he described as “unfettered” access to 41,000 hours of footage, Carlson, a popular conservative pundit, revealed he would begin airing the exclusive footage of the January 6 insurrection this week.
After days of silence, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other Republicans explained on Tuesday (February 28) that information wouldn’t be released to Carlson’s team or broadcast publicly without security clearance, ensuring that it wouldn’t compromise the safety of the Capitol complex.
McCarthy added that Republicans would be working alongside the U.S. Capitol Police to ensure that the footage doesn’t pose a security risk.
Addressing reporters at the Capitol, the Speaker explained that initially, they were given different answers about how much footage was available, claiming Republicans had been told 14,000 hours, then “roughly almost 42,000 hours,” but were working through the footage with Capitol Police.
McCarthy added that Carlson was interested in “certain parts” of the footage while emphasizing he wasn’t interested in “exit routes.”
McCarthy’s mention of “exit routes” was an apparent dig at the January 6 Panel, which showed footage of then-Vice President Mike Pence leaving the Senate Chamber as rioters stormed the Capitol.